Harry Potter and the Diamond of Shadow
by G0blet0fFire
Summary: Voldemort is back and he's doing everything he can to ensure his 'purification' of the world. In order to secure his sucess, he needs to gain acess to an ancient gem. How is it possible that he's obtaining all the resources he needs through Hogwarts?
1. Disturbing Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. I do however own the plot and my characters Professor Sanchez and Cassandra DeCartalano. Other than that, everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. She's smart!!!

Chapter 1- Disturbing Memories

Harry awoke grumpily from his slumber. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the ceiling of his little bedroom in Privet Drive. He had only been out of Hogwarts for a week, and he already felt miserable. Harry now had freedom, as the Dursleys were afraid they would be jinxed if Harry was unhappy. Even with the power to go wherever he wanted couldn't cheer Harry up.

He sat up in his bed, the door to his wardrobe was open and his reflection was starting back at him. His jet black hair was still ruffled from a restless night; his wonderfully green eyes had bags under them from his lack of sleep. He put on his glasses for a better look at himself. 'At least I don't look like skin and bones anymore,' he thought. It was true. Over the summer the Dursleys had been feeding Harry well enough and now his sized balanced with his height, which had increased from the previous year. If only Sirius could've seen him like this.

Sirius. Harry couldn't stop thinking about him. His death had been the cause of Harry' stupidity, at least that's what he was telling himself. He was also thinking about the prophecy. He couldn't stop thinking about it. Out of all the people in the world why was he the one with all the problems?

In his dreams the echoing words of the prophecy haunted him:

"_THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES....BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONT DIES...AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT...AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES....THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BEBORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...."_ (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 37, page 841)

It took a while for Harry to fully understand what it meant. In his life, he either must kill, or be killed by, Voldemort. The fate of the wizarding world could be resting on his shoulders. If Voldemort was to be killed, it would be Harry who would have to do it. If Harry was killed by Voldemort, nobody in the world could stop him.

There was a banging against his window. It startled him and Hedwig awoke with a start. Harry saw a ball of fluff trying to break through his window. It was still dark outside and he couldn't tell what it was. He was cautious as he slowly opened the window. A ball of feathers zoomed into the room. It fluttered about, a letter tied to its leg.

Harry's heart soared. A letter from Ron! Harry wrestled Pig into his hand and untied the letter. Once the letter was in his hand, the little owl hooted merrily, proud of completing his task. He landed next to Hedwig's perch and started to drink. Hedwig glaring at him with her amber eyes. Harry unfolded the letter and recognized the sloppy handwriting of his red-headed friend:

Harry

Me and Hermione are at you-know-where. We know this may be hard for you but we need to talk about the death of you-know-who. Mum's making arrangements for you to come sometime next week.

Ron

Harry usually looked forward to Ron's invitations to spend the rest of the summer with him. But he didn't want to go back the Grimmauld Place. It was too full of memories of Sirius. He thrust Ron's letter on the floor and collapsed onto his bed. Pig started fluttering around his head, flapping his wings in Harry's face.

"Alright already!" Harry exclaimed, waving his arms in an attempt to get Pig out of his face.

He grabbed a piece of parchment off his desk and began scribbling a reply:

Ron

Yeah, ok. Send back an owl when you have a confirmed date.

Harry

He rolled up the piece of parchment, grabbed Pig by the tail, and violently fixed the letter onto his leg. Pig took off, hitting the wall before flying through the open window. "That is one mad bird," he said under his breath as he closed the window.

The digital clock on his desk read 4:30. 'Good,' he thought to himself, 'I don't have to start another miserable day just yet.' And with that, he turned off the lamp, and tried to get another bit of sleep.


	2. Dreams and Departure

Chapter 2- Dreams and Departure

_Harry was wrapped in a blanket of darkness. He felt his body searing with pain. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. Then there was a light, a gleaming white light. Harry reached for it and held in his hand, a diamond. He stared at it. It felt cold in his sweating hands._

"_You have what I need," a cold high pitched voice called from behind him. He felt his scar searing with pain._

Harry was pulled out of the dream. He was back in his room. Gasping for breath, sweat dripping from every inch of his body. The pain in his scar had vanished almost as quickly as he awoke. Hedwig was staring at him inquisitively. Across the room, the digital clock read 11:07.

'What was that all about,' Harry asked himself as he changed his clothes.

'What do you think it was about?' A little voice in the back of his head asked back.

'He needs something.' Harry answered the voice.

'Good,' the little voice replied, 'And what is it?'

"That thing," he said aloud.

Downstairs the house was empty. Uncle Vernon had left for work and Dudley was out 'having tea.' Aunt Petunia was in the garden, occasionally stretching her long neck over the fence to spy on the neighbors. Harry went into the cupboard and grabbed a Twinkie. He violently ripped off the wrapper, pretending it was Bellatrix Lestrange's head.

He had to tell somebody. After what happened last year Harry wasn't keeping dreams like these a secret anymore. But who to tell? He didn't think sending a letter to Ron would do any good. He needed to send it directly to someone of authority. He thought about sending it to Dumbledore but figured he was busy with other things. After going through all the members of the Order in his mind he decided on sending it to Remus Lupin. He had been childhood friends with Harry's father and Sirius. He would care; he might know what to do.

Upstairs he grabbed a piece of parchment and got ready to write. But all he could do was stare at the blank space for a while. How should he start?

Dear Professor Lupin,

'He's not your professor any more,' the little voice said to him.

Harry crumpled up the piece of parchment and grabbed a fresh one.

Dear Lupin,

'Eh, I guess so,' the little voice spoke again. Harry began to write:

I figured I should tell somebody about this so I might as well tell you. I had this dream last night. I don't know what was going on exactly but it was weird. I was in this really dark place and then there was this light, and I had a diamond in my hand. This voice behind me said I had something I needed. I know it was him, I just know it was. Well anyway, just thought you might want to know. Take care,

Harry

Harry reread his letter a couple of times, making sure he hadn't left out anything important. When he was satisfied enough, he poked Hedwig until she woke up, hooting softly. "Hedwig, do you think you can try and find Remus Lupin? He might be at Grimmauld Place. If he's not there, somebody there must know. Got it?" Hedwig hooted in approval. "Go as fast as you can, I don't know when I'm leaving for Grimmauld Place. But just in case I'm gone when you get back, you know where to find me." Hedwig nipped Harry's finger affectionately and flew off.

The next few days were long and dreary. Hedwig hadn't returned with a reply from Lupin and Pig hadn't brought back a letter from Ron. All Harry could do was hide up in his room, avoid the Dursley's and sleep. Dreaming of dark caves, bright lights, and death. Harry's life had taken a turn for the worse.

_The air was musty and full of death. Harry was shivering on the ground, alone in the dark. At least, he thought he was alone. He could hear raspy breathing behind him, drawing nearer and nearer. His mind was throbbing with pain, his scar burning him like it never burned him before..._

Harry was awoken by a tapping at his window. Hedwig had returned. Harry sprinted to the window and let her in. She dropped a letter at his feet as she flew to her cage:

Harry

Thank you for brining this to our attention. We, the members of the you-know-what have been suspecting some of you-know-who's plans and your letter has helped us greatly. Molly should be making some arrangements for you to come to you-know-where shortly. See you soon,

Remus

Almost immediately after Harry folded up the letter Pig came dashed through the open window, dropped a letter on Harry's head, and flew off.

"What the hell?" Harry said rather loudly. He unfolded the parchment Pig dropped on his head. Ron's handwriting was sloppier than usual.

Harry

Mum says we're gonna get you Monday evening. By the time you get this letter that would be soon so hurry up and pack your things! We'll be taking the Knight Bus and we'll be there around 6. See you (really) soon,

Ron

"Six?" He asked himself. He glanced over at the digital clock on his desk. "Quarter-past four?!" Harry looked around his messy room. Stuck at Privet Drive he didn't have the heart to clean it up. Almost everything on the floor needed to be packed. He grabbed everything he needed that his arms could carry and tossed it in a pile. Hedwig eyeing him curiously.

After about an hour of hard work, Harry's trunk was packed semi-neatly. In half an hour the Weasley's would arrive and take him to Grimmauld Place. A place he looked forward to arriving at so he could finally be with his friends. But a place he dreaded going to because of all the memories of Sirius. Harry was so busy thinking about all the stuff going on in his head he wasn't paying attention to the time. 5:30 already? He dashed downstairs to grab a quick dinner. He wondered how to break the news to the Dursley's. It had to be brief but accurate.

"I'm spending the rest of the summer with my friends," he said blankly, getting up from the table. Aunt Petunia looked terrified and averted her eyes, leaving Uncle Vernon to respond.

"That's...that's fine." Uncle Vernon stuttered. "When are they coming? When will you be back?" He sounded like Professor Quirrell.

"They should be here in a few minutes," Harry replied. "I'll be back next summer."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine then," Uncle Vernon muttered. "Get your things ready."

Harry went upstairs and double checked that all his necessary items were packed. He dragged his trunk and Hedwig's cage downstairs. The Knight Bus was already waiting for him. He brought his belongings out the door without looking back. The Dursley's still sitting in the kitchen.


	3. The Psychic

Chapter 3- The Psychic

"Great to see you Harry," Ron greeted him when he was finally aboard the Knight Bus. "The muggles been treating you well I assume?" Ron had grown a lot over the summer. His hair was longer, he grew a couple of inches, and Harry noticed a few muscles building around him. The gangly appearance he held for the past five years had vanished.

"Yeah, they're okay," Harry replied drearily. He looked around the Knight Bus. The beds were still set up along the walls. Above on the second floor, to his horror he saw Draco Malfoy chatting away with some girl he didn't recognize. Malfoy's white blonde hair was slightly covering his face, but Harry could still tell he was smirking as always. He had changed to. He had grown, as had he and Ron, his hair was longer? No that wasn't it. Harry knew, and he was freaked out. He had gotten tons of muscles. More than Ron had gotten.

"What's he doing here?" Harry asked, disgusted.

"I don't know," Ron shrugged, "When I got on he was already here."

"Who's that girl he's talking to?"

"Cassandra DeCartalano."

"You know her?" Harry asked taken aback.

"Yeah. She's an old friend of the family. She's staying with us at Grimmauld Place. Came along for the ride. Can't stand being cooped up there for too long. She used to live near me, but then she moved to another part of the country. Haven't seen her in years. Great to have her back. Dumbledore arranged it so she can come to school with us. Mum's invited her to live with us at the Burrow instead of with her crazy stepmother."

"So if she came with you, what's she doing up there with Malfoy?"

"His hat fell down here. She brought it back up to him and she's been talking to him for ten minutes now," Ron said enviously.

"What could they possibly be talking about?"

"No clue," Ron shrugged, glaring up at them.

Harry and Ron sat clang to the beds as the Knight Bus made it's twists and turns along the roads. In between cars and through red lights. Between random yells of shock Harry and Ron talked about their summers so far. This didn't cheer Harry up much but it was something. They came to an abrupt stop in front of the Leaky Cauldron about twenty minutes later. Malfoy came down the steps and exited the bus, averting his grey eyes from Ron and Harry as he left.

"Hey Ron," said a voice from behind them.

"Hey Cassie. This is my friend Harry," said Ron as the Knight Bus started tumbling again. She sat down next to Ron on the bed. Harry could see why Ron was jealous of her talking to Malfoy. She was beautiful. Her tan, powdery complexion was highlighted by all her other accenting features. Her eyes were a deep brown with flecks of gold, the same shade of brown as her hair with the same golden flecks. Harry was glad that she didn't stare at his scar, or announce his presence like others did when first meeting him.

"Hi Harry. I'm Cassie. Nice to meet you," she held out her hand for Harry to shake.

"Hi..." Harry stuttered, shaking her hand nervously.

"So anyway missy," Ron said turning to her as the bed swayed beneath them. "What were you doing talking to Malfoy?"

"Um...talking I guess," she answered honestly. Ron gave her one of Hermione's don't-give-me-that looks.

"What? I just brought his hat back. And I asked him why he was alone. He just seemed so gloomy. Is it a crime for me to try and cheer someone up?"

"No," Ron said defensively, "But it might be when it's Malfoy."

"Is he evil or something?"

Harry chuckled. "Please, don't get Ron started."

"You could've just read his mind from down here you know," Ron mumbled. "She's a psychic you know Harry," he said excitedly. "She can read minds, and see the future, and move things, all in her head! It's brilliant!"

"Oh stop," Cassie joked, "It's not all good. Constant headaches, thin temper, weird things happening, it's not all fun."

"Sure," said Ron and Harry sarcastically in unison.

For the rest of the ride Ron and Harry talked about all the things to see at Hogwarts. Occasionally one of them would fall of the bed, and get run over by all the moving beds. At one point, the beds were tripping over Ron and Cassie had to lift him up telepathically and rest him back on his seat.

After about a half an hour the Knight Bus dropped them off at a deserted street. The houses were beat up and worn. Windows were broken, the paint was peeling off the sides, and the doors were covered in graffiti. When they got off the bus they waited for it to snap out of view before proceeding to Grimmauld Place.

"Remember what to do Harry?" Ron said as they approached the houses numbered eleven and thirteen.

"I think so," Harry replied shyly. He closed his eyes and focused on one phrase in his mind:

_The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. _

Out of nowhere, a house started to materialize in front of them. It pushed the houses to the sides of it out of the way, as if the world just expanded for the house to appear. As soon as the house was fully emerged, the three of them quickly hurried onto the stoop and banged on the door violently.

Mrs. Weasley opened the door and urged them to come in. Once inside, Harry knew everything too well. He remembered the smells, the sounds, and the dark atmosphere of his surroundings. He was back at the house that his deceased godfather once grew up. He was back at Grimmauld Place.


	4. Back to the House of Black

Chapter 4- Back to the House of Black

Mrs. Weasley smiled kindly at Harry. "Hello Harry dear," she cooed, "Sorry, can't talk right now. There's a meeting going on." With that she hurried down the hallway and out of site.

"There's been meetings of the Order here almost every other night," Ron explained as he and Cassie helped him carry his things to his room. "People have just been coming in and out of the house, even in the middle of the night."

At the top of the stairs, on the second landing, Ron and Harry dragged his trunk to the room on the right, Cassie following behind with Hedwig's cage. The room was just as he remembered it. Kind of dark and damp, but somewhat homey in an ancient castle kind of way. Harry collapsed onto his bed, taking in the scenery. Pig's cage was in the corner of the room. The dresser it was on top of was shaking from his fluttering around.

Harry closed his eyes. He listened to Ron and Cassie talking in the corner about school shopping in Diagon Alley and progress on clearing the house of as many odd creatures as they could. Harry felt oddly relaxed. He had expected to feel awkward at Grimmauld Place but he found himself peaceful. Harry felt the swish of a hairy tail against his ankles which were hanging off the bed. He looked down and saw Crookshanks prowling around the room. He was moving slower than Harry remembered.

"He is getting kinda old," he heard Cassie say from across the room, "Hermione's had him for a while and he was pretty old when she got him."

"How did..." Harry began.

"Sorry," she said apologetically, "I have a bit of a cold. I sometimes accidentally sorta... read minds."

"So whatever you do don't think anything bad about her until she's healed," called a familiar voice from the doorway. It was Hermione. "Hi Harry," she said walking over to him and giving him a hug. "How've you been?"

"Fine I guess," said Harry sort of dumbstruck. Usually Hermione just attacked with her hugs. This time he was glad he could still breathe.

"So what have you guys been up to? Got any ideas about what Voldemort's up to?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron wince slightly.

"Well we don't know much," Hermione answered. "We can't really get much with the Extendable Ears. We just know that he's after something. Something he needs to give him more strength. There's only one in the world. But we have no idea what it is."

"Diamond," Harry said under his breath. Ron and Hermione stared at him. Cassie was lying on Ron's bed, staring into space. She didn't seem to notice the conversation at all.

"How do you know this?" Ron finally said.

"I had a dream," Harry sighed. "I sent a letter to Lupin about it and he said they were suspecting things and that I had confirmed something."

Ron and Hermione still stared. An uncomfortable silence followed. "What?" Harry asked at last. "It's not like this hasn't happened before."

"But that's why you were taking Occlumency," Hermione replied in a hushed tone.

"So what? It helped the Order didn't it?"

"That's not the point! The point is if you keep having these dreams nobody knows what could happen. You could get possessed or who knows what! Voldemort knows that you to can share thoughts, he knows you're linked by that scar. It's bad for you to keep having these dreams. That's why you have to block them out."

Harry was getting angry now. How could Hermione be telling him what to do? She hadn't done anything to help the Order. She hadn't been forced to suffer through the tiring Occlumency lessons with Snape. She didn't understand you can't just block out the dreams. His temper was rising.

"Are you okay Harry?" Hermione asked inquisitively.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine!" He spat. "I'm stuck at Privet Drive unable to do anything or be close to the action or anything! The one thing I'm able to do for the Order I'm not supposed to be doing!"

"Harry, you don't have to yell..."

"YES I DO! I'M THE ONE WHO'S SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM! IF I CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO HELP UNDERSTAND HIS PLAN THEN HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO IF THE TIME COMES WHEN I HAVE FAC E HIM AGAIN!?! IF I JUST LET HIM KILL ME THEN IT'LL BE THE END! EVERYTHING'S ON MY BACK SO DON'T TELL ME NOT TO HELP! DO YOU HEAR ME!?!"

"I think people in America heard you..." muttered Cassie.

Harry glared at her darkly. She wouldn't even look at him. She confused him. Here he was talking about how he was supposed to kill the most dangerous person in the wizarding world and she was talking about how long he was being.

"Don't expect you to understand," Harry scoffed.

"What's there not to understand?" She questioned him. She was looking at him now.

"You're mad because all your friends are here and at least have an idea about what's going on. Finally you have a dream and you have an idea about what Voldemort's after and you're proud you helped the Order. Then you come here to find that how you obtained the information was 'bad for you.' And now you're offended because you believe that you've helped the Order so much and here's Hermione telling you that shouldn't have done what you have done. So now you're crushed."

"THINK YOU'VE GOT IT FIGURED OUT DO YOU!?! HAS HE TRIED TO KILL YOU MULTIPLE TIMES!?! DID HE KILL YOUR PARENTS!?! DO YOU HAVE A STUPID SCAR ON YOUR FOREHEAD THAT BURNS EVERYTIME HE FEELS EVIL!?! ARE YOU THE ONE THAT HAS TO EITHER KILL OR BE KILLED!?!"

"Yes, only once, yes, no, and no," she replied coolly, looking away again.

Harry couldn't believe it. How could she just sit there and listen to him shout and sit there like she knew everything. He was fuming, he was sweating from all the anger he was building up. He wanted to punch her, even if he knew she was right.

"Whatever," he muttered under his breath. His back was facing her now. Ron and Hermione were standing in the corner. Terror was in their faces.

"Well?" He said intriguingly, "Don't you have something to say too Ron?"

He looked from Hermione, to Harry, to Cassie, then back to Harry again.

"Well!?" He said impatiently.

"Yeah," Ron managed to say, "I think....I think you should stop yelling at everybody," he finished quietly. Harry marched over to Ron and stared him in the face.

"You think so?" He said angrily. Ron managed a terrified nod. He opened his mouth to say something more but he was interrupted,

"Leave him alone," said Cassie sternly.

"What did you just tell me?" Harry said through clenched teeth.

"You heard me. Stop getting in his face. None of us are trying to hurt you."

"So what are you trying to do?"

"Help you," they all said in unison. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, whatever."

"You need to relax Harry," Cassie said. Her eyes were glowing green. So was Harry. He didn't know what was going on. He didn't have control over his muscles anymore. He was floating. He glided over to his bed and was lying down on his pillows. His body stopped glowing, as did Cassie's eyes.

He looked over at her. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Well?"

Harry sighed. There was no arguing with her. In the corner he saw Ron and Hermione looking at him hopefully. "Yeah, relax. Okay," he said grimly.


	5. Summer Begins

Chapter 5- Summer Begins

Harry had fallen asleep right where Cassie had placed him the night before. When he woke up he was alone in the room. Ron had probably gone down for breakfast. He changed his clothes and walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Everybody was already eating.

"Morning Harry!" Mrs. Weasley said merrily. "Hope you slept well. I figured you'd be tired so I told everybody not to wake you," she handed him a plate of bacon, eggs and toast. "We've got some work to do today so eat up!"

Around the table were Ron and his family and Hermione. Everybody was eating silently except for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They were discussing some of the work they would be doing throughout the day. Harry wasn't hungry. He found his mind drifting back to Sirius. Last time he was around this table, Sirius was alive. The last time he was in Grimmauld Place, Sirius was alive. The last time Harry felt truly happy, Sirius was alive.

Harry, Hermione and the Weasley children were in the attic, trying to clear out all of the rats that had made their homes in the darkness. Mrs. Weasley wanted to use the attic as storage. Nobody knew what for but they did what they were told. The old dusty attic was dark and depressing. The only source of light was a lantern placed in the middle so they could see what they were doing. The fumes of the rat gas they were using were starting to get to Harry's head.

He heard footsteps coming up the staircase. He turned around and saw Cassie. He was starting to wonder what happened to her. She looked somewhat ruffled. Her hair wasn't as neat as it was yesterday and she looked exhausted.

"Hey Cassie. How'd you sleep?" Ron said handing her a pump full of rat gas.

"Okay I guess," she said rubbing her eyes. "It took a while to fall asleep. I have this massive headache."

"You sure you're up for this?" Ron asked as he continued to spray corners behind the beams.

"Yeah, I figure if I give my mind some exercise it might help. Gotta keep using the powers or they might slow down you know." She levitated some of the already knocked out rats and dropped them in the bucket.

After about two hours of work the attic was rat free. They were now working on the room where Buckbeak was kept. Whenever a rat got knocked out, Buckbeak enjoyed pouncing on it before swallowing it whole.

During lunch people were coming in and out of the house. Lupin, Tonks, even Snape and Dumbledore. None of them stayed long enough for Harry to talk to thought. Not until the evenings during dinner however. Lupin and Tonks stayed for some of Mrs. Weasley's chicken. Harry was tired from all de-ratting and hardly had any energy to talk. Tonks and Lupin didn't say much to Harry. There wasn't anything to really say. They couldn't talk about the business of the Order because Harry wasn't of age and of course Mrs. Weasley would disapprove.

The rest of Harry's summer was spent the same. Cleansing the house during the day, having dinner with members of the Order in the evenings, and occasionally some eavesdropping with the Weasley's, Hermione, and Cassie whenever there were major meetings of the Order.

July slowly slipped away into August. Harry counted off the weeks until he would return to Hogwarts. He was starting to get over the loss of Sirius until one day in the middle of August. Everything came flooding back to him.

"Children!" Mrs. Weasley called up to them one evening. "Come down here please. We have some things to take care of."

Everybody stomped downstairs and into the kitchen. Cassie was sitting on a chair. Her legs folded, her eyes purple and pupil-less.

"What's going on?" Harry said quite loudly.

"Shhh..." All the adults in the room hushed him. Dumbledore, Lupin and Tonks were sitting already at the table.

"Do you know what this is about?" Harry whispered to Ron.

He shrugged, "I dunno. But she's doing something. Something in her head's going on."

Harry looked at her mysteriously. She looked deep in thought. Occasionally her eyes would move around the room, almost looking through them instead of at them. It seemed like she was listening to something the rest of them couldn't hear. The kitchen was silent. All eyes were on her.

The purple in her eyes slowly faded back to the brown they usually were. Her pupils came back as well. She was breathing heavily.

"What did he say?" Dumbledore questioned quietly.

"Anybody care to explain what's going on?" Harry said louder than he meant to. "Who's she listening to? Why are we down here?"

"You're down here," Dumbledore explained, "Because Sirius has some things that he wants to leave for all of you."


	6. Talking With Sirius

Chapter 6- Talking With Sirius

"What do you mean?" Harry asked. He was skeptical about this whole thing. "What's that got to do with why we're down here? And what's going on with her?" He pointed to Cassie.

Dumbledore smiled. Something weird was going on. "She was contacting him Harry," he said in that mysterious, all-knowing voice. "We wanted to know if there were some things he wanted put into order."

"So lemme get this straight. She can talk to Sirius?"

"Yes Harry."

"Even though he's dead?"

"Yes Harry."

"And he can talk to her."

"In a way, yes."

"How is that possible?"

"It's a bit complicated Harry. You see, when Sirius passed through the veil his spirit didn't disappear. It's still there, behind the veil. When Cassandra focuses her mind she can contact him. The whispering you heard in the Department of Mysteries are souls, trying to contact their loved ones. Sirius has managed to contact Cassandra. It's not really clear how, but we just know it's happened. Hasn't it?" He said looking at Cassie again. She nodded slowly.

"So what has he told you?"

"Lot's of things," she breathed, "He wants you to keep using the house as Headquarters for the Order."

"We have already filled that request," Dumbledore said brightly.

"He says he's dividing his savings with all of you."

"As he wishes."

"He wants me to take care of Buckbeak."

"Think you can handle it?"

"Yes professor," she whispered.

"Anything else?"

"Harry gets the house and everything in it. I lost him after that."

"Okay with you Harry?"

"I...I guess so..." Harry replied. He still couldn't believe the situation. How was it that Cassie could talk to Sirius? How did Sirius know Cassie? How was he able to reach her? He felt somewhat sick. He inherited a house full of memories he didn't want, and inherited money he didn't need, or want for that matter.

He went to bed that night, unable to sleep. For a moment, it felt like Sirius was almost alive again. He was able to communicate with somebody. He was able to tell them what he wanted done. And Harry couldn't apologize to him. He couldn't tell him how sorry he was for being so foolish. He cursed under his breath. How come Sirius contacted Cassie instead of him?

'Because she has extraordinary powers,' a little voice in his head said, 'Her mind is a mystery.'

It seemed to make sense. 'If only there was a way.' He thought to himself.

'There is.' The voice said to him again. 'Use the girl.' It sounded sinister this time.

Harry got up and tiptoed across the hallway to where Cassie was sleeping. Hermione, Ginny and Cassie were all asleep. He crept past Hermione and Ginny coming to Cassie bed. Her hair was covering her face. He grabbed her shoulder and started to shake her.

"Wake up," he muttered. "This is important."

Her eyes fluttered open. Her eyes dazedly fell upon Harry. "What?" She said grumpily, hiding her face in her pillow.

"I need your help."

"Can it wait till I'm not half asleep?"

"No. We need to do it now, while nobody knows."

"Fine, what is it?"

"Can you help me talk to Sirius?"

She groaned. "Not now. I don't have enough energy for that. I'll wear myself out before you can get a minute of talking to him."

"Please." He was begging now. "It won't take long I promise. Just tell me what I have to do."

She sat up, still dizzy from the lack of energy. "Okay, I'll try. You gotta focus. Focus on why it's so important for you to talk to Sirius. Got it?"

Harry nodded. He was nervous and excited. He was finally going to be able to speak with his godfather again.

"Gimme your hand," Cassie commanded as she held out her palm. Harry was hesitant at first but then he gave in. He placed his hand on top of hers, she enclosed it with her other one. "Focus," she whispered, closing her eyes. He closed his eyes and thought about Sirius, how he had to apologize for causing his death. Harry thought Cassie was going back to sleep, but he began to feel something running through his veins. It seemed light an airy at first but then he felt like gravity was pressuring him still. It felt like he was transferred from the bedroom and into outer space. He heard distant whispering.

"Harry..." a distant voice called.

"Sirius?" he thought to himself.

"Yes..."

"I'm so sorry!" Harry shouted in his head. "If I wasn't so stupid you wouldn't be dead. You'd be here at Grimmauld Place with me. It's all my fault..."

"No Harry...whether you went to the Department of Mysteries or not, Voldemort was going to strike that night. Either way Harry, I would've been there."

"But he said he needed me to get the prophecy for him. It had to be my fault."

"Believe me Harry...he would've found a way to lure you there if you hadn't come...you were just trying to help me...there are more important things going on now...I will tell you another time...when Cassie is stronger...she's growing weak...I can sense it...goodbye..."

"Wait! Don't go! Tell me now, please."

Before Sirius could answer or refuse to something happened. Harry felt down to earth again. He was back at Grimmauld Place, sitting on Cassie's bed. She was gasping for breath.

"Are you okay?" Harry said urgently.

She looked horror-struck. She slowly nodded and fell back onto her pillow. "I'm really exhausted now," she whispered. "Did you tell him all you needed to?"

"Yeah," he said under his breath. "He told me there were important things going on. That he'd tell me when you were stronger. He said you were weak. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I think so. It's easier when he contacted me. Less work. I'll be okay. Go back to sleep," she yawned. "Night Harry."

"Goodnight Cassie," he sighed as he began creeping back to his bedroom.


	7. Checking in at the Leaky Cauldron

Chapter 7- Checking in at the Leaky Cauldron

It was weird. Harry thought that if he apologized to Sirius, he'd be able to move on a little bit more. But now that he head, he couldn't think about anything besides that conversation. For a week and a half, all he thought about was the conversation. He didn't care what was going on in the Order, he didn't care about clearing the house of rats and who knows what else, all he could think about was what could Sirius possibly know that was important? Was it information about Voldemort? How did he know? Why couldn't he tell Harry that night?

Harry was poking his potatoes with his fork. It was his last night at Grimmauld Place for the summer. The next morning they were going to Diagon Alley for school supplies. They would spend the remaining few days of summer at the Leaky Cauldron before leaving for platform 9 ¾.

Everybody was telling Cassie everything they could about Hogwarts. They told her about the teachers and the grounds and the Quidditch Cup and all kinds of things. Harry would've joined in too, but he wasn't in the mood.

After dinner he and Ron attempted to pack all of their things. It was taking a while seeing as everything was scattered all over the room and they weren't exactly the neatest packers. After 20 minutes they were tired and took a break. Cassie and Hermione came in and glanced around the room at the mess.

"Did a bomb go off in here or something?" Hermione asked sternly.

"Ha ha," Ron replied. "I supposed you're all packed then?"

"I've been done for a while now. It was so much easier with Cassie helping me."

"Think you can give us a hand then?"

"Sure, I think," said Cassie. She walked around the room, searching for the items they would need for school. "It's not too big of a job."

Her eyes started glowing green again. Large quantities of clothes folded themselves and landed neatly in the trunk. Quills, parchment and books flew across the room and arranged themselves neatly in their trunks. Harry had to duck from all the flying objects. Once the trunks were packed they snapped shut. Cassie's eyes returned to normal and she took a look at the room again.

"That was brilliant," said Ron in amazement.

"Watch out for my head next time though," Harry said as he stood up from behind the bed.

The next morning, everyone gathered their belongings and boarded the Knight Bus. After a half an hour of bouncing and swaying on the bus, they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was looking over his school supply list that received a few days ago.

"Hurry up Harry," Ron called from the doorway, "We're going school shopping."

After a long afternoon of shopping, Harry and his friends stopped for sundaes at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. They walked around the alley looking at all of the magical knick-knacks. They also stopped at the pet store to look at some of the cats (Cassie loved cats) and to pick up some owl treats (the only thing that could calm Pig down).

They returned to the Leaky Cauldron, had an early dinner and gathered in the room that Hermione, Ginny, and Cassie were sharing, trying to get through their homework before it was too late. Cassie didn't have as much work to do because she was transferring schools, but Dumbledore still wanted to make sure she knew the material that could possibly be on the N.E.W.T.s.

"State the importance of cutting mandrake root into equal portions when using it in a Liquidocia Potion," Ron read off his piece of parchment. "Think you can find that one?"

"Should be in here somewhere," Cassie said, flipping through pages in a book. She began flipping the pages rapidly with her mind. The book created wind as it turned and turned finally coming to a halt about 200 pages later. "Found it! Something about if you cut it up too misshapen it'll clash with the eye of newt and cause a global melt down if not taken care of soon enough."

There was a knock at the door. Everybody looked around at each other, wondering who could want to find any of them. Finally Ron got up and walked to the door, he cracked it open just wide enough for his head to fit through. "What?" He said disgustedly.

"Is Cassandra here?" The voice said on the other side of the door.

"Yeah."

"Can I see her?" The voice said impatiently.

Ron turned to rest of them. "Cassie, its Malfoy."

Cassie got up, everybody was staring at her. She looked at them once more before entering the hallway, closing the door behind her. Harry could here their muffled voices through the door.

"What's he doing talking to her again?" Ron said grumpily as he sat back down in front of his Potions work.

"He likes her," said Hermione with a bored tone as she flipped through her copy of "_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six."_

"What?" Ron and Harry said in unison, completely shocked.

"Well isn't it obvious? You told me she was talking to him on the Knight Bus, and then didn't you seem him look at her at Florean's parlor? And when he asked for her just now, he didn't call you Weasley or anything."

"He was at the parlor?!? But...but...but he's got Pansy!" Ron exclaimed.

"You think those two would last? Think about it. Malfoy walks around like he's kind of the place. You think he'd settle for somebody like pug-face Pansy? Then take a look at Cassie. Compare the two and pretend your Malfoy."

Ron thought it over for a second. "Well if I'm Malfoy I'd wanna know what house she's in first."

Hermione gave him a reproachful look. "What could she see in him anyway?" Ron mumbled as he began scratching at his Potions work again.

"Well she probably understands him or something. And I don't know about you guys but I don't think Draco's ever had somebody like that in his life."

"She's not in his life! They barely know each other! Besides, she's too smart to fall for him and he's probably using her for something. But she'll know...she'll read his mind."

"Fine, don't believe me," said Hermione returning to her book, "You can ask her when she gets back if you really want to confirm."

Ron scoffed. Harry and Ginny sat in silence during the whole conversation, their eyes flowing back and forth between Ron and Hermione. When it looked like the argument was over all Harry and Ginny could do was stare at each other. They had never heard anything so odd.

'How?' Harry thought. 'How could somebody like Cassandra fall for somebody like Malfoy?'

'It's not official yet,' a little voice in his head said.

'Did you hear Hermione at all? It makes perfect sense to me but Ron's just stubborn because he loves her.'

For nearly an hour the only sound in the room was the scratching of quills and the sound of pages turning. Ron would occasionally glance at the door, and glare at it for a minute before focusing on his work again. Harry heard faint giggling in the hallway. Harry, Ron and Ginny stopped their work and strained to listen to the conversation going on out in the hall, Hermione still absorbed in her book. Ron crept quietly towards the door, his ear pressed against in, Harry and Ginny imitating his actions.

"So I'll see you later then." Cassie's voice came from the opposite side of the door.

"Yeah, can't wait," Malfoy whispered.

There was a pause.

"Bye," Cassie said. She began to open the door, knocking down Ron, Harry, and Ginny as she entered the room. "Could you be listening any closer?"

Ron got up and dusted himself off. "Where were you for an hour?"

"I went for a walk with Draco," Cassie said casually.

"Why?"

"Because he wanted to see me."

"I think he saw you well enough at Florean's..." Ron muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Ron said defensively. "What do you see in him anyway?"

"I see a lonely guy, who's hard to understand, who's been through a lot, who's cute."

Ron chuckled. "You forgot to mention he's an obnoxious, know-it-all, teacher's pet, evil dark wizard."

"What makes you say he's a dark wizard?" Cassie asked sternly.

"His father was a Death Eater, his whole family's been in Slytherin, he thinks all people who aren't purebloods are scum..."

"One, his father has nothing to do with him, two, his house doesn't reflect exactly who he is, and three, and he doesn't think they're all scum."

"And you know all this...how?" Ron asked.

"Hey Ron," she whispered, "I have a secret."

Ron looked at her oddly. "I can read minds," she finished. "Isn't that weird?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that."

"Why are you so against this anyway?"

"Because I don't want you going out with somebody who's possibly violent, evil, and who could end up hurting you!"

"Thanks for the concern but I'm never going to go out with a person like that."

"So why'd you tell Malfoy you'd see him again?"

"Because I don't think he fits that description," she said sternly.

Harry had never seen anything like this. Usually Ron only had these kinds of arguments with Hermione (who was still engrossed in her book). Not only that, but he had never seen two people argue over Malfoy like this. It was an awkward site. Ginny was still staring.

"Anybody gonna back me up here?" Ron turned to the rest of them. They all looked away, averting their eyes.

"So I'm the only one here who doesn't like Malfoy now?"

"That's not true Ron," Harry said, finally speaking up, "I don't think any of us really like Malfoy but if he likes Cassie and they wanna see each other, we can't really stop that."

"Thank you," Cassie nodded. Ron scoffed and sat back down to do his potions work again, not saying another word on the subject.


	8. Heading Towards Hogwarts

Chapter 8- Heading Towards Hogwarts

The next few days was filled with finishing up last minute school work. Occasionally, they'd take their work to Florean's and take some sundae breaks. On the last day before school Ron and Harry had finally finished all of their work (and Hermione had finished reading _"The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six"_).

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Cassie had an early dinner at the Leaky Cauldron so they could start packing for Hogwarts.

"Psst...Harry," Ron whispered to him. Ron glanced over his shoulder, encouraging Harry to look. Harry stretched his neck a little bit and saw Malfoy sitting alone at a small table, writing something on a piece of parchment. "So?" Harry asked impatiently.

"I think he's following us. First at Florean's, then he found out what room she was staying in, and now he's here."

"Why would he follow us?"

"Don't be thick Harry. He's spying on us."

"What for?"

"He's either trying to get to Cassie, or he's trying to see if we'll spill any info about the you-know-what to tell all his dark wizard friends. Or maybe both."

"Ron, I think you're starting to obsess. Don't go crazy, it's not good for your health."

"I'm not going crazy," Ron said, a little louder than he should have. "It's just creepy that's all. He's some kinda stalker or something. Like how did he know we were going to Florean's? And then he knew what room we were staying in, and he knew when we were leaving for dinner."

Harry shrugged. He thought Ron was just being paranoid. But it started to get to him a little bit. What if Malfoy was spying on them to get info about the Order? Was he just using Cassie to get closer to us? No, that couldn't be it. Cassie's read his mind already, she'd know if he was using her.

'What if he wasn't thinking it at the time?' A little voice in his head asked him.

Everybody groggily boarded the Knight Bus the next morning. Once all their belongings were secured they clung to their beds and were ready to roll (literally). Everybody except Cassie was trying to keep themselves in place, but she was so tired she just let the bus toss her around. Harry's eyes darted back and forth through the bus, watching it throw Cassie around. It was somewhat entertaining, but then things took a slight turn for the worse. Her bed crashed into Malfoy's. He was looking depressed and she started talking to him, her face full of concern. Harry hoped he was the only watching this, but he was wrong. He looked over at Ron, who was eying them conspicuously, his face going slightly red. It looked like he wasn't breathing. Luckily Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were engaged in a conversation of their own, as were Ginny and Hermione.

"Oh god," Harry muttered.

"What?" Ron asked, apparently hearing him.

"You're gonna do that whole freaking out protective thing aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Harry got the idea that Ron wasn't kidding.

"We'll be back soon guys," Hermione called to Harry and Cassie, "It's another gathering of the prefects."

"Ron never told me he was a prefect," Cassie said as she closed the compartment door.

'Ron hasn't told you a lot of things,' Harry thought. "He was just as shocked as all of us. Especially with all the detentions he gets from Snape."

"Snape?"

"He's the Potions teacher. Don't wanna get on his bad side. It's too late for most of us but you might have a chance. He tends to favor Slytherins though. He's head of their house. What house are you in anyway?"

"Gryffindor," she replied, "That night when Dumbledore was at Grimmauld Place he brought his Sorting Hat thingy."

'Well at least Ron will be relieved she's not in Slytherin...' Harry thought to himself.

"Shame, I thought you'd have more cleverness than bravery and get into Slytherin," said a depressed voice.

Malfoy was standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall. Harry noticed that his eyes looked softer than usual. Not stern and angry like normally but, somewhat sympathetic.

"Hi Draco," Cassie said cheerfully.

He smirked, staring back at her eyes. Harry was confused, his eyes wandered from Draco to Cassie repeated times. Did they even know he was here?

"Aren't you supposed to be up front with all the prefects?" Harry asked nastily.

"Yeah well they finished explaining everything so we're done," Draco spat. "Anyway, I just came here to talk to Cassandra. Alone." He motioned for her to come with him.

"I'll be right back Harry," she said getting up, and she closed the compartment door behind her.

'What's he want with her now?' Harry thought.

Harry hardly had 10 seconds with himself as Ron and Hermione had just come back. Hermione looked fine but Ron looked grumpy. Harry wondered what could've happened at the meeting to make Ron so grouchy.

"What's wrong with you?" Harry asked.

"I saw Cassie walking out of here with Malfoy," he replied gruffly.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well anyway there's a bunch of new stuff we can do this year as prefects," she said in an attempt to change the subject. "Sometimes we have detention duty and we can patrol the halls at night."

"Cool," Harry replied loosely, "At least I'll have a chance at spending a detention with you guys instead of Snape."

"What are they always talking about?" Ron asked.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. They didn't know what to say.

"Stuff I guess," Harry answered. 'Well that was smart,' Harry told himself.

Hermione had taken out another one of her school books and began to read through it. Ron and Harry were engaged in a game of Wizard Chess.

"Ron we should go now," Hermione said looking at her watch.

"Don't touch my knight," Ron called as Hermione dragged him out of the compartment so they could patrol the train. Harry was alone again. He wished Cassie were here, he needed somebody else to talk to. She had been gone for almost an hour now.

"Hey Harry," Cassie said as she walked into the compartment. "Where'd Ron and Hermione go?"

"They left to walk around a little bit, make sure everything's alright. But where have you been this whole time?"

"I was with Draco."

"Doing what?"

"Talking."

"For an hour?"

"Well if you must know, I kinda sorta...fell asleep."

"I didn't know Malfoy was that boring," Harry muttered. Cassie glared at him.

"I was tired, and we were talking for a while, and I got really sleepy. Then before I knew it he woke me up and said he had to go walk around, so I just told him I'd come back here. I didn't know I was gone so long, honest."

It seemed to make sense, Cassie was sort of a sleepy person and she did look kinda ruffled. Her eyes were straining to stay open.

'She still looks exhausted,' Harry thought.

It started raining heavily outside. The sky was a deep shade of grey and there were occasional thunder booms and lightning strikes. Harry thought the pounding of the rain on the top of the train was relaxing, until it started to sound like clanking.

"Harry," Cassie whispered. "Look..." She pointed out the window and saw that the drops of rain slowly became pieces of ice. Harry had never seen anything like it. He started feeling cold, Harry could she his and Cassie's breath coming out of their mouths when they spoke. "What's going on?" She asked through chattering teeth. Harry shrugged. He never remembered anything like this happening before. He held a tight grip on his wand in his pocket.

"Wait," Harry said under his breath, "Dementors."


	9. Back Home

Chapter 9- Back Home

Harry drew his wand out of his pocket. The train had come to a stop; many students were looking out of their compartments to see what was going on. 'Not again,' Harry thought. He heard the prefects shouting orders at everybody to remain in their compartments.

"Should I be scared?" Cassie asked, breathing heavily.

"Maybe," Harry whispered. He tried going through his mind and finding a happy moment, just in case a Dementor showed up. Harry heard the worried voices of his school mates and the prefects still shouting orders. They were doing a brief head check.

Malfoy passed by their compartment.

"You okay?" He asked bluntly. Harry wasn't sure if he was talking to just Cassie or both of them. Either way, they both nodded.

"What's going on?" Cassie gasped.

"We're not really sure," Malfoy replied sitting down next to her. He closed the doors and locked them. "All I know is, for now, we're on lockdown. Nobody goes in or out of this compartment until we know it's safe. Got it?"

They nodded again. The lights began to flicker, and finally went out. Cassie started glowing, panting as she stared into the hallway.

"What's up with you?" Harry asked. Cassie only glowed when she was doing something with her mind.

"Huh?" She looked at herself. "Oh, I don't know," she said. The glowing stopped immediately. Moonlight began to shine through the window, illuminating their faces. They were both looking out the door, panic stricken, puffs of breath escaping their blue lips. Harry was still trying to focus on a memory. He needed to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

He could hear it. It's dry, raspy breathing was gradually growing louder. He began to feel it too, his insides were freezing over, his mind was ice. Then he saw it, the hooded cloak covering its face, an eerie dead looking hand creeping out of the cloak. It stopped and turned to Harry, breathing in the atmosphere. Harry was sure it was going to attack him. He could feel it sensing his soul. It smelled his fear. To Harry's surprise, it turned and moved on; the glass on the door froze over.

"Now what," Cassie whispered when the Dementor was out of sight.

Harry heard screaming coming from a compartment behind him. He got up and tried unlocking the door but he felt something pull him back. Malfoy was clinging to the other end of his cloak.

"Are you mad Potter?" He asked, "What part of lock down do you not understand?"

"Somebody's got to help them," Harry said breathlessly.

"There are prefects scattered all over the train. It's not your place to go running around while there's a Dementor."

Harry was confused. Harry wasn't sure if Malfoy was being annoying or trying to protect Harry. Either way it bothered him. Harry got up again and headed towards the door.

"Stop," Cassie said from her little corner. Her eyes were glowing as she placed Harry back into his seat. He tried moving but he didn't have any control of his body anymore.

"Let me go," he said furiously as he tried to struggle out of his chair.

"No Harry, listen. Draco's right. You can't just come out of here and expect to take on the Dementor."

"I'm under oath," Malfoy said, slight concern in his voice, "I can't let any of you leave until it's safe."

"But I know the Patronus Charm. I can fight it," he said, still trying to break free of her mental hold on him.

"Impressive...," Cassie commented, "but it doesn't matter. The staff members on board are probably working on it right now."

"You don't know that," Harry said grumpily. How could she agree with Malfoy? Telling him that the fact he could fight the Dementor didn't matter.

"Actually, I do..." Harry saw a white flash illuminate the hallway, the Dementor swiftly gliding past the door. The glass on the door melted and the lights came back. All was as it had been before. Harry's coldness slowly thawed out and he felt Cassie release him from her grasp.

"I gotta go now," Malfoy said urgently. He tried to get up but fell back down; he looked at Cassie whose hands were still digging into him.

"Oh sorry," she murmured apologetically as she let go of him.

"Don't worry about it," he said, fixing his sleeve, "I'll see you later." With that, he got up, unlocked the door and closed it behind him as he began to stroll the halls again.

"You and him are driving Ron nuts you know that?" Harry said when Malfoy was out of earshot.

"Why?"

"Because Ron loves you," Harry blurted out. He had done it now. He had violated the friendship rules and just spilled out Ron's huge secret. Why did he have to do it? He was praying that maybe he had just imagined himself saying it, or maybe she didn't hear. This was too much to hope for though.

"I love Ron too," Cassie replied honestly. She tilted her head in slight confusion.

'Not like that you idiot,' Harry though to himself, 'Was she really that naive?' Harry rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing," he muttered. She was hopeless.

Ron and Hermione returned a few minutes later.

"Are you guys alright?" Ron asked, sitting down next to Cassie.

"Yeah we're fine," Harry said, "Who got rid of the Dementor?"

"McGonagall," Hermione replied, "She was furious. Nobody knows how it got on or why, but I heard the teacher's saying they think that it was looking for something."

The rain was still pouring heavily as the students left the train and approached the Hogwarts castle. It looked dark and mysterious in the rain storm but still welcoming. Lightning illuminated the sky as Harry and his friends rode in the carriages pulled by thestrals to bring them to the castle. The Entrance Hall was flooded with puddles and mud. Harry saw Peeves drenching some third years in the hallways with water balloons.

As they walked into the Great Hall, Harry noticed a lot of eyes were following them. What could they possibly be staring at? 'Okay, if I was out there and saw us walking in like this, what would I stare at?'

'Cassie,' the little voice answered him.

During the sorting hat ceremony Harry noticed they all looked like they fell into the lake, rather than rode across it in a boat. Ron continuously grumbled about how hungry he was and how the ceremony was taking too long. When all the students were finally sorted, Dumbledore stood for his start-of-year speech.

"I'm sure that all of you know," he began, "the rise of the Dark Lord has put us all in great peril." There were anxious murmurs throughout the tables. "And so, it is in times like these, that we need to stand together as one. Slytherin and Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, must all become united. For if we fall apart, we will stand no chance in surviving the war that is rapidly approaching. And I'd like to remind all of you that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students. Also, I'd like to introduce the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Sanchez." Polite applause erupted from the students as the new teacher rose from the table. Harry noticed Snape wasn't even making eye contact with her. Now that Harry thought about it she looked almost a like a girl version of Snape. She had short, slick black hair, a stern face, and a somewhat crooked nose. "Now, let's eat," Dumbledore finished, and with a wave of his hand, the plates in front of them filled with food.

Over dinner, Harry caught up with his friends Seamus and Dean, talking about their summers and whatever else they could talk about. People from other tables occasionally came over to introduce themselves to Cassie (mostly boys, Ron went crazy). After dinner, Ron and Hermione led all the Gryffindors to the portrait of the Fat Lady and announced the password ('butterbeer') and showed the first years where their dorms were.

Harry got tired pretty quickly and headed up to his dorm. On his bead he saw a large parcel. It was long and skinny, attached was a note. Harry opened the envelope and read:

Now that Miss Dolores Umbridge is no longer the headmaster I do believe there are some things that need to be put in order. You regain your place as Seeker on the Gryffindor Quiddith team, as Ginny Weasley has resigned. Attached is your Firebolt. Enjoy!

Professor Dumbledore

Harry couldn't believe what he was reading. He had almost forgotten about his Firebolt (did he just say that?). He ripped open the parcel and saw his Firebolt, in mint condition, just as he remembered it. He couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. He ran back down to the common room, Ron and Cassie were still talking in front of the fire.

"Ron! Ron! My Firebolt! It's back! I'm Seeker again!"

"You have a Firebolt?!" Cassie exclaimed.

"What about me?" Ron asked. "Was there something on my bed?"

"I dunno," Harry shrugged, "I was too excited."

"You're so lucky Harry! I'm still riding a Nimbus 2002," Cassie said in awe. "Well anyway, I'm going to bed. Night guys."

"Night Cassie," Harry and Ron said.

Harry and Ron went upstairs to their dorm and changed for bed. Ron was ecstatic about getting his broom back. He also regained his spot on the Quidditch team. Harry crawled into bed, dreaming of flying again on his Firebolt.


	10. First Day of Term

Chapter 10- First Day of Term

"Well this is a perfect way to start the year," Ron said sarcastically during breakfast. "Have you seen our schedule? We've got double Potions with the Slytherins first, then History of Magic. Then, in the afternoon we've got double Divination and then Care of Magical Creatures, with the Slytherins again. Oh joy..."

"Well...at least there's Hagrid's class to look forward to..." Harry said hopefully.

"Sorry Cassie," Ron said, "You're in for a long day."

"This year," Snape said sternly, walking up and down the dungeons, "your classes will be entirely devoted to preparing for your N.E.W.Ts next year. We will be working constantly to make sure that your minds are stable enough to handle the test. Now, I shall be putting you into groups of three," he said as he pulled out a roll of parchment from his desk. "Now while you're in my class, you will constantly be working with your groups. You shall do your labs together, your homework together, and your reports together. There will not be any changes in the groups. Is that understood?"

There was a murmur from the class.

"The groups will be as follows," Snape began, reading off the list.

"Wonder who we're gonna get stuck with," Harry muttered, slightly ignoring Snape.

"Well he's not gonna put any of us together," Hermione sighed. By 'us' she meant Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"But we still have a shot at being with Cassie," Ron said turning to her. "He doesn't know if we're friends or not."

Cassie giggled. "Is he really so evil he pair you with your worst enemies?"

"Yeah," they all said exasperatedly.

"If you don't mind me," Snape spat, "I believe I just read off your group Mr. Weasley."

Ron spun around and saw Snape towering over him. "You're over there with Ms. Brown and Mr. Goyle."

Ron gathered up his things and moved to another corner of the dungeon, leaving Harry, Hermione and Cassie at the table. Harry looked around the room and noticed almost half the class was already paired up. There could be a slight chance that at least two of the three would be together, as there were more Gryffindors than Slytherins in the class.

"...Granger, Crabbe, and Parkinson," Snape read off. Hermione scowled and gathered her things to meet with her group.

"Well, we still have a chance," Harry sighed.

"Yeah I guess, but what are the chances?" Cassie said, doodling on her parchment, "If Snape is as strict as you say he is, we'll be lucky to be in a group together."

"...and finally Potter, Malfoy, and DeCartalano."

Harry couldn't believe it. He was lucky enough to be paired with Cassie, but now he had Malfoy to put up with. 'Fantastic,' he said sarcastically in his head as they gathered their things and moved to Malfoy's table.

"Now please take notes on the Polyjuice Potion," Snape said, turning his back to them to write on the board. Harry noticed Ron glancing at him and Hermione. They had made this potion back in their second year.

Harry, Cassie, and Malfoy lazily took down the notes Snape was writing on the board.

"This is boring," Cassie sighed.

"You said it," Malfoy replied.

"Yup," said Harry, surprised he agreed with Malfoy on something. "Me, Ron and Hermione made this potion years ago. What about you?" He asked, turning to Cassie.

"We studied it in Durmstrang," she said, a tone of boredom in her voice as she doodled more stars onto her parchment.

"You went to Durmstrang?" Malfoy asked, slightly impressed. Harry couldn't believe it either. He had always pictured Durmstrang as a school for dark wizards, people like Malfoy.

"I made it once with my father," Draco muttered.

'Probably trying to disguise himself so he could sneak into the Ministry,' Harry thought.

They worked in silence until it came for the time when they had to start making the potion.

"Potter, if part of my grade depends on you then you're gonna have to do things right," Malfoy snapped. Harry was cutting up pieces of Mandrake root; apparently his cutting skills weren't up to Malfoy's standards. His pieces were slightly uneven but Harry thought they were good enough.

"I suppose you think you can do better," Harry grumbled.

"Yeah, I do Potter. But I'm busy. Cassie, can you do it?" Malfoy retorted, continuing to mash their eye of newt.

"And here I was thinking I could just sit here and watch you two argue the whole time," she sighed, as she started cutting new roots. Harry watched her attentively. She did cut hers a lot more equal than he did. He was still angry though. How could she just sit there and let Malfoy talk to him like that, then obey his orders?

'It's going to be like this all year,' he told himself.

"I sense a new presence," Professor Trelawney said mystically, her hands in the air. "There is a new student among us. I can feel it."

"You can also see it on the attendance list," Cassie said darkly. The whole class stifled their laughter except for Lavender and Parvati, who worshipped Professor Trelawney and glared at Cassie. Professor Trelawney pretended not to notice as she walked over to the table Harry, Ron and Cassie were seated.

"Divination is your expertise is it not?" She asked Cassie looking her in the eye now.

"I guess you could say that," Cassie replied, staring back, not even daring to blink.

"I understand you are gifted when it comes to the mind. Mind reading, telepathy, teleporting. But how are you at other matters? Crystal gazing, astronomy, palmistry. All are aspects of the class that need to be honed as well."

"It's not as fun, but it's all good."

"Your name, Cassandra, the name of my grandmother, the famous Seer. It means, the prophet, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Can you willingly see into the future? For example, if I asked you to tell me if my sister will send me a letter tomorrow morning, would you be able to tell me?"

"I can't see into the future at will, but I have a feeling she won't because she has the flu and needs bed rest."

There was excited chatter erupting from the class. The situation was tense. There was a slight glow in Cassie's eyes.

"How do you know that?" Professor Trelawney asked suspiciously.

"Helps to be a mind reader," Cassie smirked. Her eyes returned to normal.

Professor Trelawney marched away, and began lecturing the class.

"This year, we will be studying a slightly more advanced form of Divination. We will begin with smoke reading. You can light incense to tell paths of your winding futures. Please copy down the procedure that we will perform in a moment." With a wave of her hand, the chalkboard was filled with notes in a golden spirally handwriting, and the class began to take notes.

"So what do you think Hagrid's gonna have us wrestle with this year?" Ron asked as he, Harry, Hermione and Cassie walked down to Hagrid's hut.

"Knowing Hagrid," Harry started, "I'm not entirely sure. He doesn't exactly have a clean record, does he?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it were dragons or something," Ron muttered.

Down at the hut, much of the class was already gathered. Hagrid was standing in front of the crowd, trying to do a quick head count. He saw Harry and beamed at him, waving him over.

"Hey there Harry, Ron, Hermione, and who's this?" He said, looking at Cassie.

"I'm...Cassie," she stuttered, a smile of amazement slowly spreading across her face. She had never seen anyone like Hagrid before. He was about eight feet tall and his face was covered with hair. Harry noticed that there were several burn marks on his hands.

"Well 'ello there. I'm Rubeus Hagrid," He replied, smiling back at her, "I got an interesting lesson planned for today so everybody please gather 'round," he called to the class. "Everybody stay together and follow me." Hagrid turned around and led them towards the lake. The water was lapping up against the shore. A gentle breeze was blowing, causing ripples in the lake.

"Today," Hagrid said, "We will be studying Ficklesaurs. Can anybody tell me about them?" Without a doubt, Hermione's hand shot into the air. "Yes Hermione."

"Ficklesaurs are usually found in dark, muddy waters. They are very sensitive and even the slightest touch causes it to giggle. Ficklesaurs are usually found near the eastern shores and the powder of their crushed horns is often used in Happiness potions," Hermione said as if she was reading it straight from a textbook.

"Very good Hermione, five points for Gryffindor! Now, I found this little fella a few days back. He's pretty tame and he's quite comfortable with people. Now, Ficklesaurs are very shy, so you don't wanna spook 'em. It could be dangerous." Hagrid turned their backs on them and whistled. The whole class waited in anticipation, wondering what was going to happen next. Then, Harry saw it.

Large purple eyes poked out of the water. It looked up and down the long line of students gathered around the edge of the lake. Hagrid reached out his hand towards the pair of eyes, waving his fingers, inviting the creature onto shore. The Ficklesaur started to emerge out of the water and into Hagrid's hands.

It was no bigger than a kitten, pinkish-red with purple spots down the back and up the short, spiked tail. On its snout was a small curved horn, a single tooth protruded out of its mouth. It had a crown of short spikes on its head. Harry thought it resembled a baby dinosaur.

"Everybody, this is Greg," Hagrid said, showing the class the nervous-looking Ficklesaur in his hands. "Ficklesaurs are closely related to dragons. They breathe fire and have the spiked tail as you can see. Ficklesaurs are excellent swimmers and when in captivity, they are used to dig beneath, the bottom of bodies of water, searching for gems that could be buried below."

The Ficklesaur was sitting quietly in Hagrid's hands, still looking at all the students around it. All the girls were cooing at it. Greg jumped out of Hagrid's hands and began weaving in and out of peoples legs. Some people gave excited yelps.

"Don't startle him now," Hagrid warned. "He's just looking for somebody he thinks he can trust. Don't panic if he starts to climb on ya."

"Don't be scared if a fire breathing dragon-like thing starts crawling up our legs?" Ron muttered to Harry as he watched it wind through the legs of several Slytherins. The Ficklesaur stopped at the feet of Malfoy and looked up into his grey eyes. Greg let out a small sound, almost smiling at him, then continued on. He worked his way to Cassie and sat down at her feet.

'This thing looks a little too harmless,' Harry thought as Greg rubbed his face in Cassie's robes. Cassie was smiling down at it, hypnotized by its cuteness like all the other girls in the class. Greg clung to her robes as he climbed up her and sat on her shoulder, rubbing her cheek and purring, making her giggle. Greg looked to his right and saw Ron staring at him. He drew in a big breath and blew out a small blaze of fire, slightly catching Ron's hair as he ducked out of the way. Several Slytherins were laughing at him.

"Careful, careful!" Hagrid called, running over to them. "You all righ' Ron?"

"Why did it do that?!" Ron exclaimed, patting the sparks on his head.

"Ficklesaurs are very protective of their loved ones," Hagrid explained. "He probably thought you would hurt her or summin'."

"Why would it think that?" Cassie asked curiously, helping Ron stand up again.

"Not sure," Hagrid shrugged. "Ficklesaurs are kinda like Hippogriffs. They don't trust everybody. Maybe you were blinking too much. They don't trust people who blink too much. I'm sorry Ron. But no harm done righ'?" Hagrid asked hopefully.

Ron was thinking things over, his eyes darting from Greg to Hagrid.

"Yeah fine," he grumbled, "As long as I don't get barbecued again."

"I can't believe how much homework we already have." Ron complained as he plopped into the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room. "We've got an essay for Snape, Binns, and Hagrid. And then we have to do that stupid smoke reading chart for Divination. I dunno what to start first," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"It's not that bad Ron," said Hermione disapprovingly.

"Easy for you to say. You didn't get any homework for Arithmancy. You've got it so easy."

"Oh big deal, so you have to look at smoke and I don't. You're just lazy."

"Lazy? You'd know how I feel if you could've toughed it out with Trelawney."

"You think I couldn't tough it out! The only reason I left is because that woman is insane."

"Do they always do this?" Cassie asked Harry as she started to work on her homework.

"It's a matter of life," Harry sighed.


	11. Professor Sanchez

Chapter 11- Professor Sanchez

"I wonder what'll be wrong with the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Ron asked over lunch the next afternoon.

"Knowing the luck with that spot," Harry said, "I'm not sure what to expect."

"What's wrong with the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers?" Cassie inquired.

"Every year we get a new one because something happens with the previous one so they can't teach anymore," Ron explained monotonously.

"Have any of you guys noticed this girl looks like Snape?" Harry asked, somewhat whispering in case Snape heard that somehow.

Cassie was giggling. "I saw that too. I swear, every time I look at Professor Snape I picture him in Professor Sanchez's clothes. They look almost identical."

"Let's just hope that Professor Sanchez isn't anything like her male counterpart," Ron said.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, is not a simple class," Professor Sanchez said sourly. "Like any talent it needs to be studied, practiced, and honed." She was strolling up and down the aisles of desks, boring her eyes down at the students who were following her every move. "I understand that you have extended knowledge of creatures in which you might need to defend yourself against. But this year, I shall teach you about dark artifacts that you need to know how to prepare yourself for. Diligence is the number one priority. Please take down the notes on the board." She flicked her wand and the board was filled with neat, bold handwriting. After a few minutes, the scratching of quills ended and the class looked expectantly around the room.

"Now," Professor Sanchez said sternly, piercing the silence that once occupied the room, "I have in my possession the Orb of Hex. Now when the incantation is recited, the orb will produce a hex at the person it is aimed at. The hexes are somewhat harmless, if anything, we are not too far from the hospital wing. Now, on the board I have written down the spell that will help you fight against the orb. Repeat after me now, _Bobulcious_."

"_Bobulcious_," the class repeated dully.

"Professor," Hermione said timidly, her hand was half-raised in the air. "Are you sure that this is safe? I mean, we don't know what hex could come out of that thing and..."

"I assure you Miss Granger that none of us will be severely harmed," Professor Sanchez said through clenched teeth. Hermione gulped and dropped her wavering hand back down into her lap.

"Now, who wants to be the first volunteer?" She looked around the room, everybody was afraid of what Hermione had been talking about. They didn't know what that orb could do to them.

"Then I suppose I will just pick a student. Let's see," she said as she glanced around the room. "How about you," she said, pointing to Neville. There was a quiet murmur from the class as he glimpsed around the room, trying to find somebody who could help him, which was impossible, seeing as he had to do this himself.

"Oh dear," Harry heard Hermione mutter. Neville wasn't the best at doing much, and with this mysterious orb thing, it probably wasn't wise for him to defend himself first.

"Come up here boy, we don't have all day," Professor Sanchez said impatiently. Neville sheepishly got out of his chair and dragged himself to the front of the class.

"Now," she said sharply, startling the class, "I will utter the incantation and you will say the spell to protect yourself. Focus all your energy into controlling the spell so that it will last long enough to repel the hex. Are you ready?"

Neville nodded shakily and lifted his wand. Professor Sanchez lifted a tarp to reveal a clear black sphere. To Harry it just looked like a giant black marble. She muttered something under her breath and the orb began to fade into a fiery red color. In the center there was a bright yellow spot that contrasted the red surrounding it. She aimed the orb at Neville and a blue flash emitted from it. He heard Neville bellow the spell and saw a bright white light form around him. The blue flash from the orb seemed to be absorbed into the light from his spell for a brief second but then Neville couldn't control it anymore and fell down due to the hex. Several Gryffindors got out of their seats to see what had happened to him, most of the Slytherins were just laughing.

"Jelly legs," Professor Sanchez said monotonously as she pointed her wand at Neville's legs and returned them to normal. "Now," she said sharply. "As you can see, Mr. Longbottom was not able to protect himself from the orb. I hope that the rest of you can harness your energy into defending yourself. Now for another volunteer."

The rest of the class proceeded in the same manner. Professor Sanchez randomly picked students from the fearful crowd to face the orb. The orb would continuously spit out hexes and a few lucky students were able to block the spell. Most of the students however (Harry and Ron included) fell victim to its mysteries to the displeasure of Professor Sanchez.

"I'm surprised at the small amount of students that are able to fight against this," she said once everyone in class had a turn. "Now, for homework please write two rolls of parchment on the difference between hexes and curses and why the _Bobulcious _spell will not work against curses."

"Two rolls?!" Ron exclaimed.

"Don't push me Weasley or I'll make it three," she warned.

Thankfully the bell rang before Ron could make her angrier than she already was.

"That wasn't such a bad lesson," Hermione commented as she began packing her things.

"It was interesting," Cassie agreed.

"Easy for the two of you to say," Ron said as they walked to Transfiguration, "You weren't on the receiving end of that orb's Bat Bogey hex."

Hermione and Cassie shrugged.

"Well at least we know one thing," Harry said as he took his seat in McGonagall's classroom, "She sure does give the same workload as Snape."


	12. The Diamond of Shadow

Chapter 12- The Diamond of Shadow

"I'll see you later guys," Cassie said, collecting her things.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Library," she replied blankly, leaving the Great Hall.

"She's another Hermione," Ron said as Hermione glared at him. "Something's odd about her. I should follow her," he said, starting to get up.

"Ron!" Hermione tugged on his sleeve, pulling him back down. "You're being paranoid. And besides, what do you think she's gonna say if she finds out your spying on her?"

"But...but..."

"No buts," she commanded.

"How about we go to the Quidditch pitch for a bit of practice?" Harry suggested.

"Sounds better than trying to read smoke," Ron replied.

"It's the second day of school and you're already taking a break?!" Hermione retorted.

Harry felt wonderful as he pushed off from the ground. He flew around the pitch a few times, feeling the wind flow through him. He flew as high as he could and dove down, pulling out of the dive at the very last second. Harry helped Ron practice for about an hour before they decided they shouldn't stay out any longer (before Hermione had a fit).

It was slowly growing darker as they headed back up to the castle. As Harry and Ron turned around a corner, a malicious voice called to them.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Potty and the Weasel. I'd at least expect a prefect not to be out after hours."

"Oh, shut it Malfoy. What are you doing here anyway?" Ron snapped.

"I'm patrolling the halls, like I'm supposed to. Now let's see, I think a detention is in order for you two. And twenty points in Gryffindor," he said evilly.

"Twenty?!" Harry and Ron exclaimed in unison.

"Be good boys and run along now, before I make it fifty."

"Come on Ron, let's just go," Harry muttered, pulling Ron behind him.

"And Weasley," Draco called, "Tell Cassie I said hi." He was smirking wickedly now, eyebrows raised. He had done it now. Harry could feel Ron pulling against him, trying to wring his hands around Malfoy's neck, and he was winning. He couldn't hold him back; he had gotten too strong over the summer. "It's not worth it," Harry said through clenched teeth, straining to hold on to Ron, who was trashing to get out of Harry's grip. Malfoy seemed unalarmed by the scene; there was no expression in his pale face.

"You're a nasty little prick, you know that?" Ron said violently.

"Better than being you Weasley," he spat.

Harry couldn't hold on anymore. He wished Malfoy would just leave so he could let go of Ron. The tension in his arms weren't tight enough to hold on.

'Leave,' Harry thought, 'Just leave already.'

"Friday, after dinner, in the library, detention," he turned on his heel and walked out of sight. Harry was relieved when he finally let go of Ron, who was now red and panting.

"Slimy git," he muttered under his breath.

"We're missing a Quidditch practice for this," Harry grumbled as he and Ron walked towards the library. They pushed through the large oak doors and began searching the tables for Malfoy. They found him sitting at a table across from Cassie who was intensely reading a book, smirking at her.

"I thought you'd never get here," Draco said angrily, getting up from the table. Cassie looked up at Harry and Ron and gave them a halfhearted smile before returning to her book. Draco brushed past them and all they could do was follow.

The came to the door that led into the Restricted section. Draco pulled a key out of his robes and unlocked the doors. Harry had been in the Restricted section once before. Since his last venture inside it looked as though it had become more dark and dusty than ever. They were led to a filing cabinet that was about the size of a closet. He turned to them.

"This is the card catalog of all the books in the Restricted section," Draco snarled. "Over the years, it's become a bigger and bigger mess in there. Put all the files in order by call number. If you need any help, too bad." He stormed off and slammed the door behind him.

"This is so unfair," Ron grumbled as he began to go through one of the drawers in the cabinet. "We were out ten minutes past curfew and we have to miss practice and suffer through this mess. First practice of the season! I swear..."

Harry wasn't listening, he was wrapped up in all the books there were in the Restricted section. He couldn't believe it. They were so hard to sort, so many numbers and decimals. He came across some interesting titles once in a while though. He entertained himself slightly by keeping count of how many books he would like to check out one day. _Quidditch Injuries Throughout the Ages, Aurors of Our Time, Dark Gems of the World._

The last title caught his attention, _Dark Gems of the World. _Harry was curious. He didn't know there were books about dark artifacts in his school library. That was probably why it was restricted. Curiosity got the best of him. He took the card and walked towards one of the shelves, looking for the book. He found it at last, _Dark Gems of the World by Christina Wetford._ He pulled it out from the shelf. It was dusty and the pages were worn. He skimmed through it (coughing occasionally from the dust) and came upon something of interest, something he had seen before. It was a picture of a diamond, the one from his dream.

_The Diamond of Shadow_

_It is said that concealed inside this diamond is the key to immortality. The diamond is believed to be made by Salazar Slytherin, and the power only works for his heir or any worthy descendant of the heir. The heir and all blood descendants of it are bound to the diamond, if the diamond is destroyed, they will die. The way to conjure the power of the diamond is currently unknown._

Harry reread the paragraph many times, analyzing it all in his head. He was starting to understand now. Voldemort was the heir of Slytherin. He needed immortality.

'If he gets it, you will never be able to kill him,' a voice said to him.

Harry returned to the filing cabinet, Ron didn't seem to notice he had left.

"You almost done with your half?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, almost." Harry replied, his mind lost in thought. If Voldemort got hold of that diamond, it was over. He would be immortal and Harry couldn't kill him, and if Harry couldn't, nobody could.

Harry and Ron finished up their work, locked the door to the Restricted section behind them, and headed to find Malfoy to return the key. They found him where he was earlier this evening, settled at a table, flipping through a book, Cassie asleep next to him, her head on his shoulder.

"We're done," Ron said grumpily, thrusting the key down the table to him. He walked over and started to shake Cassie in an effort to wake her up. Her eyes flickered open.

"Where am I?" she asked sleepily.

"You fell asleep in the library." Ron explained.

"Is that where I am?"

"Yeah, we're going back to the common room now."

Cassie sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it? How long have we been here?"

"A while now," Draco said, running his hands through her hair.

"Alright already," Ron said irritably, grabbing Cassie by her wrist. "We gotta go," he pulled her and Harry out of the library and eventually let go of them.

"You have really strong grip," Cassie said crankily, rubbing her wrists, which were white from Ron's grasp.

"Sorry," muttered Ron as he led them up the stairs to the common room.

"What were you doing in the library for so long anyway?" Harry asked, as they waited for one of the staircases to change.

"Me and Draco," she strained to remember, "We were reading, then, we were talking, and I fell asleep."

"Fell asleep on his shoulder," grumbled Ron.

"Sorry," she said apologetically.

The Fat Lady was dozing in her portrait; Ron poked her impatiently and said the password.

"I say, children out this late at night, after so many years you'd think they'd know better..." she complained, as she swung open, letting them in.

The common room was empty, which was no surprise to Harry as everyone had usually gone to bed by this hour.

"Well, I'm beat, see you guys in the morning," Cassie said as she walked up the stairs to the girls' dorms.

Harry and Ron went up the stairs towards their dorm. Harry could hear Neville's snoring from behind the curtains of his four-poster bed. His mind was swimming with thoughts. If Voldemort were to get a hold of that diamond Harry couldn't imagine the terror that could be wrought. What if he had gotten hold of it already? What if...

"Harry?"

Ron's voice made Harry become aware of his surroundings again. He snapped his head up in the direction from where he heard Ron call him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"You just seemed, I dunno. Never mind then."

Harry couldn't stop thinking about what he read. What if he knew how the diamond worked? What if he knew where it was? But the Order knew something about it so he couldn't obtain it that easily. Harry's head was throbbing with thoughts as he slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	13. Cassie’s Past

Chapter 13- Cassie's Past

"How much longer?" Harry asked impatiently. They were in Potions and Harry was getting impatient. They had been sitting there for ten minutes waiting for the right moment to add in the lacewings.

"Can't be much longer now," Cassie said, stirring the potion bleakly. "Who's hair are we gonna put into this thing anyway?"

Harry never thought about that. When the potion was nearly done they had to add a hair of the person they would change into. Harry, Cassie and Draco were glancing at each other nervously. Harry didn't want to change into them, and he didn't want them to change into him.

"I'm not putting mine," Harry said quickly.

"You can't expect me to put mine," Draco said sternly.

"Oh great, so I'm gonna have one of you guys walking around looking like me," Cassie sighed.

"Knowing Snape it'll probably be me," Harry sighed.

"Shame Potter, for such looks to be wasted on you," Draco grumbled, smirking slightly.

Harry looked at Cassie who was just rolling her eyes.

"Rather change into Cassie than you Malfoy," Harry said through clenched teeth. It wasn't too witty but he couldn't just take that.

"I could understand that Potter. You'd rather be a girl."

"Better a girl than a show-off, evil git."

"Brave enough to say that to my face Potty?"

"Could you shut up?" Cassie was holding her head in her hands.

"What?" Harry and Draco said in unison.

"You heard me. I have a headache as it is and you guys are just making it worst. First of all, you," she pointed at Draco, "Stop picking fights with Harry for no reason. And you," she turned to Harry, "Don't provoke him. If he says something you don't wanna hear, do the world a favor and end it."

Harry just sat there, watching her. Her eyes were full of anger and frustration. It looked as though the golden flecks had turned red. She muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'boys' under her breath and slammed her head down on the table.

"You're only gonna make your headache worse by doing that," Harry said at last.

"And besides that, you're getting ink in your hair," Draco said, brushing some of Cassie's loose strands out of the way. Harry heard a muffled sound coming from her, but he couldn't understand it.

"What?" Harry and Draco asked again in union.

"I said I'd rather get ink in my hair than listen to you to," Cassie replied, picking up her head. She dropped the lacewings into the cauldron and it gave off a large puff of smoke.

"Fine, we'll stop," Harry muttered, afraid of another outbreak.

"For a little while," Draco grumbled, hardly loud enough for Harry to catch.

"Why couldn't we start the year doing something remotely exciting?" Cassie sighed. "This just reminds me of Durmstrang, and it's depressing."

"How was it there anyway?" Draco asked.

Cassie thought for a second. "Evil."

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Well it was! They thought some of the Dark Arts and all the professors were creepy, and the dorms were cold and they treated us like we were in the army and it was just terrible."

"I can't believe after five years of Durmstrang your not walking around cursing everybody in sight," Harry said jokingly.

"Well not everybody there was evil, but some of them kinda were though, mostly the professors were what scared me the most. They were forcing the Dark Arts on us and sometimes they used the some of the Unforgivables on students."

"That's horrible," Harry whispered. "How'd you end up in Durmstrang anyway?"

"I dunno," she sighed wearily.

"So what kind of stuff did they teach you?" Draco asked.

Cassie and Harry glared at him. Harry wasn't surprised but Cassie probably was. Draco came from a very long line of Dark wizards so his interest in studying at a place like Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts wasn't such a shock.

"Creepy, evil, nasty, murderous, dark, wicked, scary, sinister, menacing stuff," she spat.

Nobody asked her anything about Durmstrang after that. They knew she didn't want to talk about it anymore. Snape was walking around the dungeon, looking over people's cauldron's making sure they had gotten everything right. He stopped at Hermione's group and was pointing his finger at Crabbe for some mistake he must've made. The potion was supposed to be thick, and a pale shade of blue. He noticed their potion was giving off green sparks.

"Poor Hermione," Cassie muttered, she was watching the scene as well. "She got stuck with a goon and a brat."

Snape added some kind of liquid to their cauldron and the sparks stopped flying. He walked up the aisle towards their station and looked into their cauldron. He gave a small stern nod and continued on. He probably couldn't bring himself to say it was good as long as Harry was in the group.


	14. Reliving Your Childhood

Chapter 14- Reliving Your Childhood

"Have you found out who the new beaters are?" Harry asked Ron as he, Ron, Hermione and Cassie walked towards Hogmeade.

"No clue," Ron shrugged, "But I guess we'll find out at practice tomorrow."

"All the decent beaters in the world couldn't help Gryffindor," a cold voice said from behind them.

Harry spun around, his wand drawn and wasn't surprised to see Malfoy standing right where Harry expected him to be.

"What do you want?" Ron asked angrily. Harry could see him tracing his finger around the edge of his wand in his pocket.

"Just warning you about the beating your team will be suffering once you face Slytherin," he replied, circling them. Harry was relieved to see that his goons weren't with them, it would make it much easier to bring him down.

"That's pretty big talk coming from somebody who hasn't won against Gryffindor in years," Harry said. He had been to calm with Malfoy lately. It was time to shake things a little bit.

"I think your mistaken Potty. I seem to remember a little incident with a Dementor. But now that I remember it, you fainted, so I guess you don't have any memory of that loss now do you?"

"I'm surprised you remember that," Ron spat, "With your attention span its amazing you can remember what you had for breakfast."

By this time, Ron's wand was out of his pocket and he was twirling it in his hands at his side, hoping Malfoy wouldn't see. Harry noticed that Hermione and Cassie had gone missing and now it was just the three of them wrapped up in the heated argument.

"Your words would hurt me Weasley, but they're coming from you so I can brush it off and not feel a thing."

"You? Feelings? That'll be the day," Harry said, he had taken out his wand too. Malfoy had stopped circling them and stared at their drawn wands.

"Gonna hex me are you? Fine. Try your worst." Malfoy's wand was drawn now too. He glared at them as if daring them to try and curse him. The three of them raised their wands, each uttering different spells. The flashes of lights collided with each other and a small explosion blew all of them away.

When Harry became aware of his surroundings again, he noticed that he felt very, very short. His clothes had shrunk and all the people and buildings around him had become enormous. Crowds were staring as the passed by. He saw Ron was still lying in the middle of the street, as well as Malfoy. He wobbled over to Ron and shook him violently. Ron was short too. His hair was shorter and he had some baby fat on him, his face was flushed.

"Ron wake up," Harry said still shaking him.

"What Harry?" He asked grumpily as he rubbed his eyes.

"Well in case you haven't noticed something is very wrong." Ron let out a gasp.

"Harry! We're tiny!"

"I know that you goof. How did this happen?"

"Well would you look at that," a voice said from above. Harry looked up and saw Hermione towering over them, soon followed by Cassie. They were both grinning.

"Little boys shouldn't be playing in the middle of a busy street." Hermione taunted sweetly.

"You did this. You filthy little mudblood." Malfoy had woken up and was shaking his tiny fists and Hermione. Harry thought he was going crazy. Hermione bent down on her knees so that her head was level with his.

"Let's get something straight Malfoy. I'm sixteen. You are four. I'd watch it if I were you." He started muttering to himself and walking around in circles.

"Fix us!" Harry demanded stamping his foot.

"Why?" Cassie asked. "We didn't do anything. It was you guys who were fooling around. And besides, I kinda like you better this way. You're easier to control." She pinched Ron's cheek.

"Hermione there must be some way you can fix us," Ron pleaded; he looked on the brink of tears.

"I guess an aging potion would work," Hermione said, scratching her chin.

"Well get to work Granger," Malfoy demanded, kicking her in the shins.

"Excuse me you little wretch," she said, picking him up by the hood of his robes. "Let's get something straight. I'm not doing anything for you with that attitude so either shape up or relive your childhood. Besides, I can't make an aging potion in the middle of Hogsmeade."

"Hermione please," Harry begged, he was down on his knees making him even shorter than before. "I don't wanna relive my childhood. It was bad enough living it once."

"Alright already," she said grumpily. "But first we gotta sneak you guys back up to the castle. You take this one." She handed Draco over to Cassie.

"How exactly are we going to do this now?" Harry asked as the walked up the path back to Hogwarts. Harry was walking alongside Hermione who had taken him and Ron by the hand.

"Everyone's gonna see us and I don't think people are used to seeing four-year olds at Hogwarts," Ron said as he bounced along on Hermione's other side.

"Harry's cloak," Hermione replied casually.

"One problem Granger, it's not here," Draco groaned, Hermione glared at him.

"I know that you little munchkin, I'm gonna go and get it. Wait here," she pinched him harshly before heading in through the double doors.

"That mudblood needs to file her nails," Draco whined as he rubbed the red spot on his face where Hermione pinched him. Harry noticed his eyes were glassy, apparently Ron did too because soon he and Harry couldn't control their laughter.

"What's the matter? Does itlle Dwaco have a booboo?" Harry mocked him.

Ron was rolling on the ground now, tears were now leaking out of his eyes. Harry was laughing again but he noticed that there was no reaction from the Slytherin prince. He wasn't glaring, yelling, or attacking. Something was wrong. Ron had stopped laughing too and was glancing questioningly from Draco to Ron. An evil smirk was spreading across his face.

There was some evil plot forming in his head. His face was changing. He made his face appear flushed by holding his breath and his eyes got watery. He turned around and started sobbing.

"CASSIE!!" He wailed as he ran over to the lake where she was sitting and buried his face in her cloak. "Harry and Ron are being so mean to me!!"

"Oh god Draco," Cassie sighed, "You're look like a four-year old please don't start acting like one."

Ron was fuming and he started dashed towards them as fast as his little legs could take him, Harry was trailing along behind.

"Don't listen to him!" Ron yelled.

"He's just being a jerk," Harry panted.

"Don't worry, I don't think you guys did anything," Cassie said, "Aw hell, don't look at me like that."

Harry looked at Draco who pulled his face out of the darkness. His eyes were puffy from the fake crying he was doing and his lower lip was trembling. It seemed as though he rehearsed this technique several times a day and he had mastered it. Harry had never been able to pull of the whole 'cute' thing. Growing up with the Dursley's he didn't need to learn the fake pout thing. Cassie rolled her eyes and got up, Draco still clinging to her arm.

"Come on," she said, throwing Draco over her shoulder. "Let's go see if Hermione's got the cloak."

"That's low Malfoy," Harry muttered as he and Ron bounded behind Cassie. He simply sneered at them and buried his face in Cassie's neck. When they got back to the double doors Hermione was waiting for them.

"What took so long?" She asked impatiently.

"Hermione, do me a favor. Never let me have kids."


	15. Potions and Possession

Chapter 15- Potions and Possession

"Can't you go any faster you stupid beaver? I have places to be."

"Malfoy, all I have to do is put this potion on a really high shelf and you'd never return to normal. One more crack out of you and..."

"Fine, take it easy Granger. Just joking," Malfoy held his hands up in defeat and backed away from the table where Hermione was working.

They had been in the deserted classroom for nearly half an hour but it seemed like ages to Harry. Harry was sitting by the window watching some first years throw rocks in the lake, attempting to provoke the giant squid. Ron was rocking back and forth in a chair watching Malfoy pace the room. Cassie was sitting in a corner absentmindedly braiding her hair.

"How much longer?" Harry asked, breaking the silence. He was getting impatient.

"Two more hours or so," Hermione replied, stirring the thing green liquid.

"Two more hours!? I'm gonna go bloody mad," Malfoy said jumping up and down. "Boil it faster! Turn up the heat! Do something to make it go now!"

"Somebody's cranky," Cassie muttered as she picked up Draco by the neck of his robes. "You need a nap."

"I do NOT need a nap! I need to be returned to my normal age so I can get the bloody hell out of here!"

"It's so cute to see you throw a tantrum," Cassie cooed as she dropped him and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Ron asked.

"I'm getting some lunch."

"Great! I'll come with you!" He leaped off his chair and ran towards the door.

"I don't think so," Cassie put her hand up to stop him from running out into the hallway. "You can't just go out there. What do you think everyone will say?"

"But I'm hungry!" Ron griped.

"I'll bring back some sandwiches," Cassie said as she patted him on the head.

Harry heard his stomach growl. He looked up at the clock hanging above the teacher's desk. 'One o clock already? No wonder he was starving. He hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast that morning.'

"So which of you actually cast the age reducing charm?" Hermione asked after a few minutes of silence. All the four-year olds shrugged. Harry knew he had used Jelly Legs but he wasn't sure what Ron or Malfoy used.

"I hope it's not one of the charms that just wear off after a while. Otherwise, if you drink the aging potion you might become forty when the charm would've worn off," Hermione said.

Malfoy opened his mouth to argue with Hermione but Cassie came in carrying a platter of sandwiches. Harry, Ron and Malfoy nearly tackled her for the food.

"Get off of me!" She protested as they all jumped up trying to snatch the tray right out of her hands.

"Me first!" Harry demanded.

"No way Potter! I get first pick!" Malfoy opposed.

"I was the first one who said I was hungry!" Ron complained, waving his hands in the air as he jumped.

"I'm a Malfoy! I get what I want, when I want so shove off!" He pushed Ron and Harry out of the way and continued to claw at Cassie's robes.

"You little brat!" Ron yelled as he tackled Malfoy. They were locked in a brawl as they rolled around on the floor.

"Cassie. While they're busy, gimme the sandwiches," Harry begged, pulling at the edge of her robes. He was shocked when he heard the words come out of his mouth, he really sounded like a toddler. He started to wonder if the age reducing charm made you act the age that you became. But he didn't have time to think, he was hungry!

"Alright listen all you lousy tater-tots!!!" Cassie yelled. Ron and Draco stopped trying to choke each other and looked up at her in shock. "If this stupid age thing is going to make you act four then you're gonna have to try and fight against your childish urges. Now," she sighed, "Hermione's getting first pick of the sandwiches seeing as she's the one getting us out of this nightmare. Then Harry since he wasn't trying to commit murder. After that is Ron and you go last Draco since you were pushing."

"But it's not fair!" Draco lunged himself at Cassie's ankles. She dragged him along as she crossed the classroom towards Hermione. "Ron tackled me! You had to have seen that! And I don't wanna eat any sandwiches that have been touched by their filth! And I'm hungry!!"

"Either eat after everyone or don't eat at all," Cassie said as she passed the sandwiches to Hermione.

"You don't gotta be so fair all the time," Harry heard him grumble as he stormed off to the other side of the room.

After eating Harry felt much better about the whole situation. Now he wasn't tiny and hungry, but he found himself to be tiny and sleepy. Ron was too, Harry saw him yawning and straining to keep his eyes open.

"Well Hermione I think the little ones are t-i-r-e-d," Cassie said.

"Do you think we could get them to take a n-a-p?" Hermione asked.

"Hey! Just because we look four doesn't mean we can't spell!" Draco yelled.

"Then what did we say smart one?" Hermione snapped.

"You said you think we're hungry and you want us to take another sandwich," he eagerly proclaimed as he grabbed another sandwich off the platter.

Harry was exhausted now. 'Stupid four-year old metabolism,' he thought as he slowly felt sleepiness overcome him.

There was darkness. He was alone, at least he thought he was. There was somebody he had to find. A girl. She had what he needed. He just needed to get her to give it to him. He couldn't kill her, just get her to say those words. He saw her. She looked oddly familiar but Harry couldn't recognize her. All he knew was that he had to get to her. There was a white light coming from behind her. He grabbed her by the neck and tried to choke her, a weird satisfaction overcame him.

"HARRY!!!!" He woke with a start and was shocked to find him where he was. Cassie was lying on the floor clutching her neck and gasping for breath. He was standing over her; she was looking at him in fright.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you Potter?" Malfoy yelled, he started to back away slowly to the other side of the room. Everyone was far away from the two of them now. There was a long period of silence, which Harry used to try and figure out what they were talking about. He couldn't remember anything. He was in the room, and fell asleep and had another one of his weird dreams, and then...he woke up in this weird situation.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.

"You...and then...it was...sinister...she was...and...oh," Hermione gasped from her corner where she was supposed to be brewing the potion. Harry was getting annoyed. She wasn't helping him, he needed answers fast. Why was everyone staring at him like he just committed murder?

"Harry," Ron said gently (which was extremely gentle seeing as he was four), "You kinda, I dunno, went crazy," he finished quickly. This didn't help much either. Now he was really annoyed.

"What!?" He asked again, much harsher than before.

"You tried to bloody murder her!" Draco yelled from his hiding spot behind a desk on the other side of the room. 'What a coward,' Harry thought. 'The day he joins the Dark side will be a sad day for their side indeed.' He was still confused. This must be some kind of a sick joke. He had been asleep the whole time, he didn't have the energy, power, or motive to try and kill Cassie.

"What?" When he asked this time it was somewhat gentler, more confusion than rage.

"You were asleep," Ron started to explain. "And then you were kinda sleep walking, you were moving really slowly, like you were hypnotized. And...you just..."

"YOU NEARLY BLOODY KILLED HER! I ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE A FREAK! NOW I KNOW YOU'RE A FREAK WHO'S CAPAPBLE OF KILLING! WAIT TILL DUMBLEDORE FINDS OUT HIS GOLDEN BOY'S GONE EVEN MORE MAD THAN BEFORE!" Malfoy was yelling from behind the desk, his head disappeared behind it before Harry could even contemplate what he had said.

Harry still wasn't exactly clear on everything but from what they had just told him, he had apparently attacked Cassie in his sleep somehow.

"What?" He asked, this time it was filled with confusion and disbelief.

"Dumbledore..." Hermione whispered, she was still cowering in her corner of the room. "You have to go...it was Him...He made you..."

"Dumbledore made me?" Harry asked.

"No you git!" Ron said, approaching him now. "Something's going on with you and you should probably go see Dumbledore."

Now not only was Harry confused, he was angry. What did they mean something's going on with him? How could they possibly know anything when he didn't. He should know, it happened to him didn't it?

"Nothing's wrong with me," Harry said quite sternly. He didn't exactly agree with what he had just said but he didn't want all of them thinking he was some kind of lunatic.

"THERE'S SOMETHING VERY WRONG WITH YOU!!!" Malfoy accused and ducked behind the desk once more.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, apparently able to speak in full sentences again, "I think you should go see Dumbledore. Now."

"What? Even if there was something wrong with me I can't go now, I look like a..."

"Go under the cloak. I don't care what you look like right now but you need to see Dumbledore now move!"


	16. Meeting With Dumbledore

Chapter 16- Meeting With Dumbledore

"So Mr. Potter," Dumbledore began, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Harry was sitting in one of the squishy armchairs of Professor Dumbledore's office. He looked down at the floor as he kicked his little legs that were hanging off of the chair's edge.

"Professor," he started. He didn't know what to say. There was always the blunt truth but that would seem odd. 'Gee professor. Sorry to bother you but I just tried to kill a person but I don't remember it so what do you thinks wrong?'

'That sounds stupid,' a little voice in his head said. He continued to stare at his feet, but he could feel Dumbledore's penetrating gaze bore into him.

"Well if you don't me asking Harry," he said at last, "Why do you currently look like a toddler?"

"Magical accident," Harry muttered. He didn't want Dumbledore to know that he was fighting in the streets of Hogsmeade. He was still trying to figure out what was going on with him.

"And why is Ms. DeCartalano in such a right state?" Cassie was sitting next to Harry, her eyes darting across the room, she was able to breathe regularly but was unable or unwilling to speak.

"That's kind of why I'm here professor," Harry began. He was grateful Dumbledore had asked this question. Now he didn't have to figure out a way to start his story.

"Ron and Hermione said I attacked her." He muttered as he looked up at the headmaster. Once he made eye contact with him, he wished he could take it back. His stare made Harry feel uneasy, as if he could just look through him. He wanted to look down at the floor again but it was hard to break the eye contact.

"I see," he finally said, nodding in understanding.

'Wonderful,' Harry thought, 'Hermione understands and Dumbledore understands and with his luck, Harry would be the last to know what was going on with him.'

"Harry," he said, getting up as he began to walk around the room. "Do you remember last year, when I told you there was a kind of connection between you and Lord Voldemort?"

Harry nodded in response. Now he had an idea what he was getting at. This was all Voldemort's doing again. Hermione began to make sense now too. '...It was Him...He made you...'

"Do you remember that I told you it was possible that he may be aware of this connection?"

Harry nodded stiffly.

"Now I am assuming by the fact that you came to me, that you had no idea that you were attacking Cassandra. Am I right?"

Harry nodded again.

"Yes," Dumbledore whispered, nodding his head as well as he scratched his chin underneath his beard. "Well Harry, I was hoping that it would not come to this but..."

His voice was trailing off. Harry wasn't listening anymore. He was busy thinking. Why had it taken him so long to realize? Voldemort. He was always the cause of his suffering. It seemed as though everything bad that happened in his life was all his fault. 'He's a murderous, conniving, vicious, bald, evil little,'

"Harry?" A voice interrupted his rambling.

He looked up blankly at a smiling Dumbledore; his eyes had that gleeful twinkle in them again. Harry wanted to bite him...painfully.

'Why would you want to do that?' He asked himself.

'Payback...' the little voice in his head whispered.

'Payback?'

"Harry," Dumbledore repeated, placing his hand on Harry's shoulder. "You didn't hear a word I said did you?"

Somewhat afraid to answer his question, Harry just gulped. He didn't want Dumbledore to think he didn't care about what he was saying.

"Don't worry," he said, smiling again. "I'll try talking to you again when your mind seems clearer. For now, it might be wise for you to head to Madame Pomfrey as I am sure she could whip up an aging potion to make you right again."

"That's okay Professor," Harry said, sliding off the arm chair, "Hermione's fixing one right now. It should be done." And with that, Harry stiffly hurried out of Dumbledore's office.

His mind was lost in thought as his feet carried him back to the room where Ron and Hermione were. He couldn't believe he had been so daft! Just about everything miserable that happened in his life (which was a lot) had been Voldemort's doing. He wondered what life would be like if he had grown up with his parents, who weren't killed by some maniac bent on ridding the world of his definition of 'filth.'

Life would most likely be bliss. He would've grown up with his kind wizarding parents. He would've known about his future at Hogwarts. He wouldn't have to worry about the lives of the ones around him. He wouldn't have to think about needing to murder to survive. His biggest problem would've been studying for his N.E.W.Ts or making sure his cauldron didn't explode in Snape's class. Every aspect of his life would be different...

His thoughts trailed on and on as he felt himself wander back to the abandoned classroom that he had previously occupied. He pushed opened the door and slumped over to one of the chairs in the corner, averting the eyes of the three others in the room. They were glancing around the classroom skeptically. It was then Harry realized he was still wearing the Invisibility Cloak. He pulled it off himself and tossed it absentmindedly on the floor.

He heard Hermione sigh with relief as she spotted Harry and continued fiddling around with the potion.

"Harry?" Ron asked shyly. "Is everything all right?"

Harry nodded and managed to give Ron a half-smile before looking away again. He wasn't sure that everything was all right. All that Harry had learned from his meeting with Dumbledore that this had something to do with the bond between him and Voldemort. He was too busy thinking about how much he hated him to hear what Dumbledore told him after that. He had considered going back to ask him what he had said, but decided against it.

"Where's Cassie?" Ron asked.

"She's..." Harry started.

'Oops...' Harry remembered that he left her (wallowing in her confusion) sitting in Dumbledore's office. Hopefully she'd come to her senses soon enough and find her way back to the common room.

"She's still with Dumbledore," he finished, deciding that this answer was true, but hid the fact that he had forgotten her there. He was forgetting a lot of things lately.

"Why?" Ron asked, the tone of inquisitiveness in his voice greatly resembling that of a four-year old.

"I don't know!" Harry snapped causing Ron to back away from him.

"Sorry," he muttered, glaring at the floor again. He wanted the stupid potion to be finished so he could hide in his bed and think properly, or not think for that matter. As if reading his thoughts Hermione announced,

"Finished."

Ron and Draco hurriedly crowded around her, eager to return to their normal selves. Harry dragged himself into the fray of Ron and Draco, who were battling each other for the first vial of potion.

'Well,' he thought, 'At least part of this nightmare is over.'


	17. A Lost Alliance

Chapter 17- A Lost Alliance

"Have you noticed Professor Sanchez and Snape lately?" Ron asked one morning at breakfast, but Harry wasn't listening. It was early November now and the sky above them was a bright gray. Ever since Harry's 'meeting' with Dumbledore, he still was never told the information that he missed. It was constantly on his mind. What could he have wanted to tell him? For the past few weeks a number of possibilities came up in Harry's mind.

Did he think Harry was unsafe to be around other people? Did he think he was going crazy? Did he think he needed to be sent to St. Mungo's?

"Harry." A voice snapped him out of his ramblings. He looked up and saw most of the Gryffindors in his years huddled in a circle. Ron was gesturing for him to come over. He slid down the bench and saw that the crowd was gathered around Hermione, who was looking at the headline of the Daily Prophet. He read the headline:

'Dementors of Azkaban Go Over to the Dark Side.' Underneath it was a moving picture of Fudge and many other ministry officials standing in front of Azkaban prison, looking very stressed.

Underneath the photo was a small caption, which read:

'Dementors, the guards of Azkaban prison are suspected of supporting You-Know-Who when they are spotted fleeing the site of a tragic muggle massacre with many unknown Death Eaters. Story continued on page 2, 3 and 4.'

"I can't believe it," Ron said as they walked down many flights of stairs towards the dungeons.

"I know Ron," Hermione sighed, "If the suspicions are correct, and Vol-Voldemort's been able to recruit the Dementors, who knows who else he could convince, or who he already has. But there's no hard evidence and I don't think..."

"Hermione," Harry interrupted, "I know your all for innocent until proven guilty and what not, but look at the facts. There was a major muggle killing, the Dark Mark was conjured, and the Dementors left the scene along with a bunch of Death Eaters. I don't think there's anything in their defense."

"Plus the fact that all of them suddenly disappeared from Azkaban," Ron pointed out. "They're probably afraid of facing all the media."

"I didn't know Dementors had emotions like fear," Cassie said as she pushed open the door into Snape's classroom.

"Potter and friends," Snape's voice snapped from the front of the class. "Hurry up and take your seats, we will need all time possible to finish the Polyjuice Potion today."

Harry quickly took his seat next to Cassie at the table where Malfoy was already sitting, drumming his fingers monotonously on the desk.

"What's he got up his pants?" Harry hissed as he copied down the notes Snape had written on the board.

"Sanchez," Malfoy and Cassie chorused.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Honestly Harry, didn't you hear anything any of us said during breakfast," Cassie said, in a very Hermione-like tone. He honestly didn't know. He was too busy thinking about Dumbledore, so he just shook his head as Cassie rolled her eyes.

"You gotta open up your ears once in a while."

"Otherwise how would you hear about the little kitties you have to rescue from trees, Potter?" Malfoy drawled.

"Put a sock in it Malfoy I'm not in the mood," Harry grumbled.

"Oh, I'm sorry hero boy. If Potty is a little bit cranky today then I guess I should leave him alone. How could he save the world if he was in a bad mood?"

"Better a little cranky today than a foul prat everyday of my life."

"Is that all you can come up with?"

"Why? Is it too hard for you to comprehend? Should I repeat it slower?" Harry had to admit to himself, he had gotten better at taunting Malfoy over the years.

"Comprehend? Great vocabulary Potter, but I suggest you don't use words you can't spell."

"I'll spell something out for you..." He murmured quietly.

"Helloooo," Cassie said, waving her hands, "I'm still sitting right here you know..." Harry ignored her. He was locked in a heated argument and he wasn't going to back down now.

"That sounded like a threat Potter," Malfoy growled. "You could never take me on."

"Really Malfoy, how strong could a little fuzzy ferret be?"

"Why are you talking about ferrets?" Cassie asked, but Harry barely heard her this time, he was on a roll.

"Please Potter, that whole ferret thing was two years ago. I bet Crabbe could come up with a newer insult than that and he can barely read."

"Crabbe can read?!?!" Cassie exclaimed.

"Crabbe may be able to insult you better but I bet Goyle is less of a girl than you are. You and your shiny pristine hair. Only creepy freaks obsess over their hair like that. Creepy freaks and girls who think they're princesses." 'Ok,' Harry admitted to himself, 'That was lame. Very lame. But Malfoy's NOT gonna get the last word in.'

"I take offense to that! I can obsess over my hair a little bit but I'm NOT a freak and I DON'T think I'm a princess. We girls just take extra care." Cassie whined.

"Rather be a girl with great hair than a scraggly guy with a mop head."

"Helloooo..." Cassie said again. "Anybody care you've just offended me? Are you even listening?"

"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't listening. Did you say something princess?" Malfoy asked, suddenly turning his attention away from Harry. Cassie scowled at him.

"Who me?" She said sarcastically. "Oh no." She frowned. "Not a word."

"Today, most of the class is just used to allow the potion to simmer," Harry heard Snape bellow from the other side of the classroom. "So in the mean time..." But Snape was cut off by a noise from the entrance to the classroom. Professor Sanchez was standing at the back of the classroom, leaning against the door.

"Professor," she said sternly. "May I talk to you?" Snape looked at her questioningly at then glanced around the classroom.

"So in the mean time, just....talk amongst yourselves or something. BUT BE WARNED. Mess with any potion ingredients and you will surely pay for it in time." Then he stormed out of the classroom, following Professor Sanchez.

As soon as the door closed behind him there was a great amount of chatter amongst his classmates. Many of the girls were whispering and giggling and most of the guys were chuckling madly.

"What the hell is so funny? Cassie! You know what's going on. Tell me," Harry pleaded.

"Oh so NOW you wanna listen to me," she complained. "This must be how Hermione feels..." she mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. Anyway, the story flying around school is that there's some kinda relationship going on between Sanchez and Snape. They've been seen walking to meals together, taking breaks together and Parvati swears she saw them walking out of an empty classroom on evening."

'Snape? And Sanchez? Together? What the hell!?!"

"But...but...then why...why was he so cranky at the start of class then...you said it was Sanchez...what...what..." he stammered.

"Well people have been saying that the past few days they've hit the rocks. They glare at each other during dinner and they avoid almost all contact with each other. So what I'm guessing is, they were a couple for a while but Snape had some kinda commitment issues, then..."

"Alright. I've heard enough and you've gone into gossipy girl mode. So...just...stop...please...it stings my brain just thinking about it...the whole school's gone crazy..."

"I bet you could read their minds and find out what's going on," Malfoy said, still staring at the door.

"I bet I could too...but I can't." Cassie said.

"Aren't you dying to know what's going on?" Harry asked. He sounded somewhat childish but he didn't care. Although the whole situation sickened him to the core, he couldn't help but wonder what else was going on.

"Actually, the idea itself disturbs me. And I thought you weren't interested anymore Harry," she replied.

"It'll be fun..."

"You can't guarantee that."

"You can't deny what you know you want..."

"How do you know I even want to know?"

"You could blackmail Snape for the rest of his life," Malfoy chimed in. This made Cassie think it over for a minute.

"Okay," she said cheerily as she closed her eyes in concentration. When she opened them again they were glowing a light shade of blue and it seemed as though she were almost staring through the wall.

"Snape's got some kind of commitment issues..." She said in a dull tone.

"Snachez is upset...they've had an argument...she wants to make up...she's sorry...he's still angry...wants to forgive...can't...too stubborn..." Her normal tone of voice returned, "What the?" Her eyes flashed purple and then back to their normal brown. She looked around the room mysteriously.

"What happened?" Harry asked excitedly. "What's up with the two of them?"

"Two of who?" Cassie asked, a very confused look on her face.

"Snape and Sanchez," he reminded her. "You know, strict teachers, look alike, work at this school, standing outside the classroom right now..."

"Oh! Them...I haven't a clue what's going on with them."

"What do you mean you don't have a clue? You just read their minds!"

Harry was confused and apparently so was Cassie, Malfoy however was giving Harry one of those 'how could you not know what's going on?' looks.

"That was her vision face stupid," Malfoy said, rolling his eyes.

"How could it be her vision face!? She just told us what's going on in their heads!!"

"Well she wasn't reading her minds brainiac. I think she'd remember if she did."

Harry scoffed inside his head. Did Malfoy really think he was stupid enough to believe Cassie would read minds without remembering?

"So...what happened?" Harry asked.

"I saw them. They're coming. They want you," Cassie stuttered, pointing at Harry.

"Who?" Harry was getting a bit freaked out now.

"The Dementors. The Dementors are coming for you."


	18. A Wish Is Granted

Chapter 18- A Wish Is Granted

Ever since the incident in Potions, Hogwarts had been on high alert. There were several prefects and professor standing guard in the halls, all the students were to be in their common rooms immediately after dinner, and Quidditch was cancelled 'for the time being' as Dumbledore had put it.

The days that passed were very uneventful. They went to class, ate, did homework and tried to sleep. It seemed to be that way for the teachers as well, McGonagall had lost that stern alert look in her eyes, which were now filled with worry. Even Potions with Snape was bearable. He had them abandon making the Polyjuice Potion and had given them mostly written assignments from then on.

Even meals were eaten in silence. There was the occasional chatter of much homework (the teachers were attempting to keep them busy somehow) but meals were usually eaten in haste for there was a rush to get to their next classes or to their common rooms 'safely.'

If the ministry was aware of the events going on at Hogwarts, they kept it very hidden. Harry was sure that they knew but was keeping it a secret from the media, hoping not to cause more trouble after letting the Dementors slip through to the other side.

It had been at least two weeks since Dumbledore was aware of Cassie's vision and none of the high security had been lightened. Ron and Hermione often had to leave on prefect patrol in the hallways leaving Harry and Cassie to wallow in their misery during the evenings and late nights.

"I hate this," Harry whispered as he tried to finish his Transfiguration essay.

"I do to," Cassie sighed, playing with her quill.

"I hate being me."

"Don't say that."

"Its true..."

"I hate being me."

"Are you making fun of me?" Harry asked, slightly louder than he had meant to. Several of the Gryffindors in the common room glanced over at him quickly but then turned their heads back down towards their rolls of parchment.

"No," she replied dully.

There was a long silence after that.

"Did you ever figure out what happened?" Harry asked. He hated the silence. The silence caused him to think, and thinking depressed him.

"No."

More silence.

"I wish they'd just come already." Harry said.

__

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_He was running, and running fast. He came to a halt at a large iron gate which opened for him. He ran inside the towering mansion, up all the flights of stairs and into a large, cold stone room. He didn't know why he was there, or how he knew where they where. But he did. He looked around but it was too dark. The only illumination was the fading glow of the dying fire in the hearth. Behind him he heard a voice._

_"Harry?" It was a girl's voice. Soft and kind, but full of fear. _

_"Hermione?" He asked. He spun around as she emerged from a dark corner. She slowly approached him, her face was pale and her eyes were bloodshot._

_"Where'd you get that?" She asked him, pointing to his hand. He didn't know what she was talking about at first, but he opened his sweating palms and found that he had been clutching a diamond ring._

_"I don't know..."_

"Harry!!"

Ron's voice brought him out of his dream and back into reality. He was lying in his four-poster in the boy's dorm shivering with cold. Around him Seamus, Neville and Dean were hastily packing suitcases. Harry squinted at the clock across the room, quarter past two.

"What's going on?" Harry yawned as he put on his glasses.

"Hurry up! Pack some clothes. We've gotta go," Ron explained as he threw some more things into his bag.

"Why? I don't get it. What's going on?" He asked again.

"We have to leave. Dumbledore's spreading us all out around the castle. We're going into hiding and we're not sure how long we'll be."

"What? Where are we going? Where's Dumbledore? How long? What's going on!?" He asked very irritated this time.

"It's not safe anymore Harry. We've got to go or else they'll find us." Ron said as he started to pack up some of Harry's things.

"Who's they?" Harry questioned as he helped Ron shove his belongings into his suitcase.

"The Dementors are almost here. And we've got to go."

(a/n: okay, im begging you now. PLEEEEEEAAAAASE review to mi fic. I've posted this story on a bunch of forums and they seem to like it a lot but I need to know if there's any of you reading this story HERE. How do you expect me to continue if I dunno if anyone's reading? Or how's my writing gonna get better? Hmmmmmmmmm? Btw, sry this chapter's so short.)


	19. Dementors on the Move

Chapter 19- Dementors on the Move

Once most of Harry's things were packed he rushed downstairs into the common room to find it in complete pandemonium. Girls were crying, prefects were shouting orders and first years were running around in complete panic.

"All students," Harry heard a voice say. He didn't see who was speaking or where the noise was coming from but he knew somehow the headmaster was talking to them.

"I understand this is all very confusing but please listen to the prefects as they lead you to your designated areas." After that the common room fell into hushed whispers except for the calls of the prefects.

"First years over here!"

"Third years follow me!"

"Sixth years, this way!" Ron called as he bounded down the stairs and into a clearer section of the common room. Harry followed him and waited for everyone to show up.

"Ron, what exactly is going on?" Harry asked. Ron still hadn't thoroughly answered his question.

"The Dementors are coming here right now Harry." Ron explained as he craned his neck to find everyone in the crowded masses. "Dumbledore's got a bunch of rooms set up for us to stay in. Secret rooms I mean." Ron waved his hand motioning for a group of people to join him.

"Why can't we stay in the common rooms?"

"In case they get in."

'Get in?!?' Harry hadn't even considered the fact that the Dementors would try and get through the doors of Hogwarts. He had always assumed that they'd just pick him up when he was playing Quidditch or something.

"They can't..." He whispered, afraid of what the answer might be. "They can't get in here." He said louder so that Ron could hear him this time. "Can they?"

"I'm not sure," Ron shrugged.

After a few minutes the common room had gotten somewhat under control and all the years were gathered with their leaders as they filed out through the portrait hole. Ron led Harry and some of his classmates down a few flights of stairs and through hallways Harry had never seen before. They went up spiraling staircases and through many portraits and past seemingly innocent curtains. Harry had never known there were so many passages in Hogwarts. After a bit of walking they came to a portrait of a veela stroking a small unicorn.

"It's been a while since I've had visitors," the veela said to them, curtsying politely.

"Godric Gryffindor," Ron recited.

"Don't you wanna stay and talk to me?" The veela asked, frowning.

"Not really," Ron mumbled.

The veela scoffed at them before slowly opening to reveal the room they would be staying in. The room was about half the size of the Gryffindor common room but considering the small amount of students staying, it was quite spacious. There was even a staircase like the one in the common room that Harry assumed lead up to the bedrooms. .

"Now what?" Neville asked.

"I guess we just wait," Ron said as he collapsed onto one of the armchairs. "Dumbledore just said to lead you here and stay until he says its safe. I guess he doesn't want us to worry too much."

"Well what does he think we're gonna do locked in here?" Lavender asked as she began pacing the room.

"How long does he think we're gonna be here for? I mean have you seen this? There's a fridge in here! And I bet the rooms have closets and everything. Are we being held up here for weeks or something?" Dean commented as he explored the room a little bit more.

Harry always thought that when the Dementors came they would just be here for a while before Dumbledore and the Professors started to fight them off. He never expected he'd be held up in a room for an extended period of time. How long were they going to be here?

"I guess he's just doing what he thinks is right," Harry managed to say before he joined Ron in front of the fire.

"I don't wanna be here," Parvati whimpered.

"I don't think any of us do," Seamus mumbled.

'Fantastic,' Harry thought, 'Let the guilt trip begin.' He figured none of them would be in this mess if it weren't for him.

For a while all of them just sat around staring into the fire, their minds racing. There were so many things not explained, even to the prefects apparently as Ron hadn't known anything. How long were they going to be hiding? Why do they have to hide? When were the Dementors coming? Would they be able to get inside the school? Would they find them?

'Will they take me?' Harry thought to himself.

_----------------------------------------------------------------------_

_He was in a dark room. The only source of light was a small moonbeam breaking through the glass window. He saw a cloaked figure staring out a window, his back was turned to Harry and his face was covered with the hood from his black coat. Behind the man was a shorter, stouter man whose face he could not make out, but the quavering voice sounded exceedingly familiar._

"_I'm sorry master," the short man sputtered. "The house has been searched many times but it's nowhere to be found."_

"_You must look again Peter. Do not fail me. I do not like it when my servants do not do their part," the first man hissed._

"_Master, master please," the other man pleaded, "Please understand. The manor has been searched and nothing has been found. There's nothing there. Maybe...maybe there's..."_

"_There has NOT been a mistake! The diamond was there last, and that is a fact. How dare you doubt my knowledge? Such insolence should not be tolerated, but I shall spare you this ONE time. Now go tell the Dementors to bring me the boy."_

"_Yes master, thank you, thank you so much," the short man whimpered as he groveled at the other's feet. "The Dementors are already on their way to get the Potter boy."_

"_Potter? I don't want Potter! The plan is not ready yet you fool! We need the other boy, and that girl if they can find her. Who executed the orders?!?"_

_The short man was shaking now. "Uh...I...I...I did master, it was me."_

"_Oh now Peter, and just when I said that I would spare you. Crucio!"_

_Harry heard high-pitched screams of terror before being slowly pulled out of his dream._

Harry awoke due to the harsh pain of his scar. He hadn't felt it burn like this in a very long time. He struggled to sit up and inspect his surroundings. He had fallen asleep in the same seat he had taken in front of the fire and apparently so had everyone else. Hermione must've come in while he sleeping as she was asleep on the floor. He stretched and rubbed his eyes, trying to adjust himself to the dim light of the room. The fire had died out long ago and only the moon shining through the many windows lighted the room.

Now that he was awake Harry thought it would be impossible for him to fall asleep again. Especially not after that weird dream he just had. He could remember it all but he knew it couldn't have been good. He struggled to remember what he had experienced. Voldemort was angry; he knew that much due to his scar. He also knew the Wormtail was there, he was the one who made him angry. He said something wrong to the Dementors, but he couldn't remember exactly what. And he was mad about something else too. He couldn't find something.

In frustration Harry closed his eyes again and tried to force himself back to sleep. There was no good in trying to stay awake, as it would probably just increase his depression. But now he definitely couldn't sleep, he had been thinking too much and his head was drowning in thought. This wasn't just another one of his stupid dreams. His scar was hurting which meant Voldemort must've been angry, that had to be real.

Harry was brought out of his ramblings by a high-pitched screech that made him cringe. He opened his eyes and found that he wasn't the only one who heard it. The sound sent a chill up his spine. He looked around, fearing that the sound came from somewhere in the room. He heard it again, only this time it was louder, and it sounded as though it came from multiple sources.

"What was that?" Hermione asked sleepily as she struggled to get up from the floor.

"It was the wind," Seamus said airily as he flipped over on his stomach, trying to fall asleep again.

"The wind doesn't make the same noise twice in a row you git," Lavender said, rubbing her eyes.

"I think we'd be happier if we didn't know what the noise was," Ron said, staring out one of the windows.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neville asked, trembling slightly. Harry got goose bumps as he walked over to where Ron was standing.

"Shit," Harry cursed under his breath. Out the window he saw the Great Lake was beginning to freeze over, and even the glass window was becoming cold to the touch. There were more high-pitched screams, it sounded like some sort of battle cry.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked anxiously as she pushed herself in between Harry and Ron. She gasped in horror as she looked down upon the grounds.

"I can't believe they're actually here," Harry announced, turning towards the rest of the group, worried looks plastered on their faces.


	20. An Attack on Two Sides

(a/n: thanks to shadow101 for finding some of my grammatical errors and to GatomanandKariFan for the encouragement. My two faithful reviewers...lol!)

Chapter 20- An Attack on All Sides

"Bloody hell," was all Ron could say.

Harry watched as the looming cloud of darkness slowly made it's way towards the castle. A huge knot was growing in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't expecting everything to happen so fast. Now that they were actually here, what were they going to go?

"How many do you think are out there?" Hermione asked, backing away from the window in fright.

"Tons," Cassie said flatly, as she approached the window. "They're not even here yet and the window's already starting to freeze over. I don't think that's a good sign. But they're still pretty far away, and they're not exactly speed demons. We've got about a half hour before they get close."

"So what's gonna happen when they're right outside our window? They'll break through won't they? They'll kiss us all! Oh Jesus, why doesn't somebody just stab me now?!"

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. "Snap out of it! You're usually the calm one. What's gonna happen to us if you start to break down, huh?"

"Sorry," she mumbled as she walked away from the window. She lit a fire in the hearth, which gave the room an orange glow. "Dumbledore and the professors can probably handle it," she assured herself as she plopped down onto the couch.

But Harry wasn't so positive. The Dementors were a few miles away and already things were starting to become colder. How many were there? Could the professor's handle them? Did the ministry even know what was going on?

Harry was brought out of his ramblings by a loud slam. He spun around and saw a flood of people piling their way in through the door. A few third year Ravenclaws, some Hufflepuffs and (to Harry's disgust) the Slytherins.

"What are you lot doing here?" Ron yelled over the anxious chatter of the crowds. Several people tried to yell at Ron, explaining what had happened but there were too many of them.

"SHUT UP YOU LITTLE BRATS!" Hermione yelled, causing the room to fall into complete silence. "Now," she started calmly, "Will the person in charge of all of you please tell me what's going on?"

"The Dementors have made their way to the South wall," a voice said from the doorway. It was none other than Draco Malfoy, who looked rather calm considering the situation around them.

"What do you mean they're at the South wall? They're over here." Ron said, pointing to the window. Almost instantly, a herd of students pushed their way to the window to see if it was true.

"So you mean there's two herds of them then?" Harry asked, somewhat aware and afraid of the answer.

"Very good Potter, you've learned how to count," Malfoy said as he stepped forward into the room and leaned against a wall.

"It's amazing how even in the face of danger you can still find time to taunt people Malfoy," Harry said darkly.

"If it wasn't for you we wouldn't be in this mess," he grumbled.

"What was that Malfoy?" Harry had crossed the room and was now towering over him. He couldn't possibly be blaming Harry for this mess (as if he didn't already feel guilty enough).

"You heard me," he sneered. "You just don't know when to die do you Potter?"

"Harry," Hermione warned as she approached him. She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed to hold him back. "It's just Malfoy," she whispered in his ear.

"Saint Potter just had to cheat death one too many times and now look where we've landed."

Harry could feel the tension between them rising. He would've lurched forward at Malfoy but Hermione was right. Malfoy wasn't worth it, especially since they could be dying any minute now.

"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to provoke you," Hermione told him, tightening her grip.

"Once this is all over, we'll all be dead and soulless. The ministry will be in complete pandemonium and our parents will cry their little eyes out."

"Walk away now, before this gets ugly."

"But you wouldn't know much about parents would you Potter?"

There was a brief moment of silence before Harry heard Hermione utter, "Let him have it." She gave him a gentle push. Almost instantly Harry took out six years of pure hatred for Malfoy out in one solid punch. But that wasn't enough, so he took a couple more at his jaw, his nose, and his skull.

'It's good to get out your anger,' a little voice said in the back of Harry's head.

"Harry I think that's enough," Hermione said, but Harry wasn't listening. Many others had heard them and started to crowd around. Harry dragged Malfoy's groaning body towards the window. He flung it open and with all his might, heaved his body halfway out the window.

"You deserve to die," Harry sneered. He looked out toward the horizon at the approaching cloud of doom. His breath came out in white puffs from the cold they were already bringing.

"Harry!" A voice called from behind him. He turned around to see a very disgruntled looking Cassie now standing in the center of the crowd. "What are you doing?" She asked angrily.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to kill Malfoy," Harry panted. The whole room had fallen silent, watching the seen.

"Harry," Hermione said carefully, "Think about what you're doing. I hate Malfoy as much as you, but this isn't right. Just, calm down, please." She looked up at him with a pleading look on her face, she seemed on the brink of tears. Harry looked around the room. Everyone was giving him the same look, waiting for him to make his next move. He glanced around the room and then back at the limp body in his hands. Even Malfoy was staring helplessly at him, awaiting his decision as well.

As much as he wanted to drop him, something in his head was pulling in back. Maybe he had done enough for one day. He had gotten in some decent shots. Malfoy's nose and mouth were bleeding and there was a bruise above his eye.

"You should die," Harry growled. He glared at Malfoy for a few moments longer before slowly backing away from the window and dropped him with a thud. "But not today." The crowd cleared a path for him as he climbed up the staircase towards the boys' dormitory. He needed to be alone so he could think.

The boys' dorm was unnaturally similar to the ones in Gryffindor Tower. He collapsed onto one of the four-poster beds and stared up at the ceiling. He scolded himself for being so stupid. He couldn't have thought he would get away with killing Malfoy. What had possessed him to be so foolish?

'Three guesses whom,' a little voice said in the back of his head.


	21. In Search of Help

Chapter 21-In Search of Help

Harry lay in the solitude of the dormitory for a while thinking non-stop. Was this really how his life was going to end? Lying helplessly in the comfort of the castle before the Dementors sucked out his soul. Or maybe they wouldn't perform the kiss on him. Maybe they would take him back to Voldemort, and then he would kill him. Either way he was dead meat unless the Dementors could be held off.

"Harry," a small voice said. Harry sat up and saw Hermione standing in the doorway, shifting anxiously.

"Yeah," he sighed as he threw himself back down.

"Are you okay?" She asked, walking over to sit next to him.

"Yeah," he repeated. Harry wanted her to go away, he didn't feel like talking.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not." That was a lie as well.

"Harry you almost killed a person," Hermione said, her tone rising slightly.

"I don't think Malfoy counts as a person."

"I know but..."

"He's a slimy prat."

"He is and..."

"And you know what else?" He asked angrily as he got to his feet. He felt like talking now.

"He's a Death Eater. A cold, heartless, slimy, little Death Eater."

"Feel better now?"

"Not really," he admitted as he took his seat next to Hermione.

For a while they just sat in silence, which Harry was grateful for as it gave him time to think about the real situation at hand. The Dementors had already closed in on one side of the castle and the batch approaching their side was unknown to the teachers. Somebody had to tell them.

Harry abruptly got up and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Hermione called after him as she tried to catch up.

"The teachers don't know about the second fleet," Harry said urgently as he bounded down the stairs.

"Harry you're crazy! Absolutely mad!"

"Thanks for your support," he replied smugly.

"Wait!" She yelled, as she finally got up to speed with him. "At least let me come with you." She finished breathlessly.

Harry thought it over carefully. Hermione wasn't a burden and if they were in any danger she was able to do a Patronus Charm. Plus he didn't know how to get out to the grounds from their current location.

"Fine, but we have to be quick," he said as he started to exit through the portrait hole. "And stay by me," he added quickly.

Hermione rolled her eyes exasperatedly and sighed, "Whatever, come on." She grabbed his wrist and pulled him along the same twists and turns he had walked through before. After what seemed like a half an hour Harry found himself in the third floor corridor. "Now what?" He asked bluntly.

"Well I think those guys were staying somewhere near the astronomy tower but I'm not sure if the professors are flying on brooms or hitting them from the ground or..."

"Hermione," Harry said as she began to ramble. "You're getting ahead of yourself. Why don't we just walk out on the grounds or something?"

"Yes, lets just walk onto the grounds were a swarm of Death Eaters are possibly waiting there just to suck out our souls." She replied sarcastically.

"Well then what do you suggest we do?" He asked getting very annoyed. This conversation was going nowhere.

"I don't know," she said, looking around frantically trying to find an answer. "We've got to be able to see them from somewhere. And then we have to get to them but how?"

"Well you said they were by the astronomy tower right?"

Hermione nodded her head vigorously, waiting anxiously for Harry's idea.

"So we'll go up there." He finished.

"Yes but how do we _get_ to them if we see them. We can't fly Harry."

A small grin began to spread across Harry's face.

"Harry are you sure you don't want to reconsider this?"

"Do you have a better idea?" He asked in a hushed tone. They had been climbing stairs for a while now trying to get back to the Gryffindor common room.

"But you know I hate flying..."

"Well you don't have to come then," Harry said very matter-of-factly as they approached the portrait of the fat lady.

"What are you children doing here?" She asked pompously. "Shouldn't you be off in your little hiding places or something?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and stated the password. As the portrait hole swung open, Harry dashed in and charged up the stairs and into the boys' dormitories. He rummaged through his trunk and pulled out his Firebolt.

"I hate flying, I hate flying, I hate flying..."

"Hermione!" Harry yelled. "You don't have to come if you're so bloody scared."

"B-but but...you can't do this alone..." She whimpered.

"Well either let me go alone or get on." Harry commanded as he mounted his broom. They were on the ledge of the astronomy tower looking out past the grounds. The swarm of Dementors was rapidly approaching and they needed to find the teachers.

"I'm coming," Hermione trembled as she climbed onto the Firebolt.

"Ready?"

Harry felt her slowly nod against him as she clutched at his waist for dear life. He pushed off the ground and felt a cold gust of wind sweep through them. The handle of his broom felt like ice and he had shivers up and down his spine. They stayed there floating for a while, trying to find any sign of professors or immediate danger.

"Harry," Hermione said, her voice quavering. "What if the professors aren't out here?"

"No." He said harshly. They just had to be out here, they couldn't just let the Dementors push their way to Hogwarts. And if the teachers weren't out there, but Harry and Hermione were then...

'You're in it deep you know that?' An arrogant voice said in his head.

Harry pointed the Firebolt downwards and before he knew it they were spiraling towards the ground at an alarming rate. Hermione was screaming uncontrollably behind him. He pulled up slightly and regained balance (which was a large relief for Hermione).

"Harry," Hermione said once she regained her nerve. "I don't think that..."

"Give it some time." Harry snapped. He couldn't be wrong. The panic caused a nauseous feeling in his stomach. If they weren't out here where were they? Why weren't they here?

They flew along the edge of the castle and towards the front of the castle. Harry rounded a bend and to his relief he saw all of the professors filing out of the doors. Professor McGonagall's eyes fell on Harry and Hermione and the rest of the crowd turned to see what she was staring at. Harry landed a few feet away from them and Hermione quickly hopped off her end of the broom.

"Dementors!" Hermione cried, looking frantically at the people around her. They were all eyeing her strangely and nobody spoke.

"Yes, Granger we are aware of the Dementor situation," Snape drawled, "But why may I ask are you and Mr. Potter here?"

"Now, now Severus," Dumbledore said calmly. "I'm sure there is a perfectly good reason why the two of them are here." He raised an eyebrow at them as if demanding them to answer his question. Harry opened his mouth to answer him but Hermione cut him off.

"There's a whole other flock of them!" She wailed.

The color slowly drained from the faces of all the teachers. They talked amongst themselves in anxious whispers except for Snape and Dumbledore, who were staring at each other helplessly.

"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked urgently. Harry nodded his head vigorously.

"Very well," he said, turning his back to them. "Attention!"

All the teachers immediately quieted down and looked up at the headmaster expectantly.

"It seems this situation has gotten far more out of hand. We need to act quickly. Minerva," he said turning to professor McGonagall. "Floo to the Ministry. Tell them it's bigger than we expected. Get as many recruits as they'll be willing to give." McGonagall nodded curtly and rushed back inside the castle. "Severus," he said as she spun to look at Snape. "Alert the Order, see if they can manage anything. They should take anyone who's in immediate danger."

"But Albus..." Snape protested but Dumbledore put up his hand to hush him.

"There is no time for arguments. Time is wearing thin. Now, please go." Snape glanced over at Harry and Hermione before nodding shortly and crossed through the double doors.

"Harry," he said, turning to the young wizard before him. "I need you to go back inside."

"But Professor," Harry objected.

"Please Harry," he said desperately, "Wait inside my office, Minerva will be with you shortly."

"But I can..."

"I am not doubting your ability to assist us in this situation but there are other things that are going on, more important things. Now please." He motioned for them to go inside. Harry opened his mouth to speak again but thought better of it. He dragged himself through the large oak doors with Hermione trailing slowly behind him. They walked up the flights of stairs and through the hallways in silence.

"Harry?" Hermione asked after a while.

"Yeah?" He replied dejectedly.

"What do you think he meant when he said there are much bigger things going on?"

Harry thought about this for a while. He really had no idea what Dumbledore was talking about, but then again nobody really ever did. Something about what he said had clicked in his head though. Somebody said that to him before...

"..._there are more important things going on now..."_

Harry's mind perked up in the discovery he had just made. Sirius had told him that same thing so long ago at Grimmauld Place.

"I don't know Hermione." Harry sighed, "I don't know anything anymore."


	22. Utter Confusion

Chapter 22-Utter Confusion

Harry was pacing Dumbledore's office for what seemed like an eternity. His mind was racing and he couldn't sit still. He kept himself occupied by making a mental list of what had gone on in the past few hours:

He had been told to stay in a room to keep him safe while the school was under siege.

Nearly thrown Malfoy out a window and let him fall to his death.

Flown out onto the grounds in search of professors who hadn't done much of anything to stop the situation yet.

Been told to go wait nice and quietly in an office while Hogwarts was under a serious attack.

"Harry if you don't stop pacing you're going to wear a hole in the floor," Hermione commented. Harry rubbed his temples and collapsed into the armchair next to hers. "I wish I had a Pensieve," he said, closing his eyes.

"This will all be over before you know it Harry," Hermione reassured him.

"Come off it. I know you're trying to make me feel better Hermione but don't lie to me. I've been told enough lies to last a lifetime."

"Fine," she said somewhat angrily as she sat up and stared at him straight in the eye. "Truth is, I'm scared to death right now and I wish that this is all just some kind of a crazy nightmare and soon I'll wake up. But the fact is, we're all confused and afraid so don't think for one second that you're the only one who's stressed right now, got it?!"

"Yes ma'am," Harry strained, nodding his head in approval. The angry version of Hermione scared him very much.

"What's all the yelling about?" A voice asked from behind them. Harry peeked up over the top of the armchair and saw Ron walking towards them, Cassie trailing right behind.

"Nothing," Hermione replied.

"Right," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "So what's going on now?"

"Do you seriously think we know?" Harry asked angrily.

"Well I thought maybe Dumbledore…"

"You thought wrong then. Nobody tells us anything."

"Sorry I even asked," Ron said, taken aback slightly as he sat down on one of the couches in the corner of the room.

Harry sighed heavily and began to apologize. "Sorry Ron. I'm just mad is all. Dumbledore told McGonagall to get in touch with the ministry for recruits or something. And Snape is supposed to tell the Order to take in people or something like that. But he hasn't told us anything directly. Only to wait here until McGonagall shows up."

The room was under heavy silence after that. The only sound was of the faint ticking of the clock and crackling of the fire. All the portraits were empty and even Fawkes was missing from his perch near the desk. It seemed like an hour passed by before the doors to Dumbledore's office opened again. Professor McGonagall strode through the room looking very distressed. Her eyes were bleary but her face was trying to hide her fear as she kept her lips pressed together tightly.

"Good evening all of you," she started; still weary from the nights events.

'Tell me one thing good about this situation,' Harry thought to himself.

"It has come to our attention that there are two fleets of Dementors currently approaching the school. The ministry has been informed and reinforcements are being arranged as we speak. The teachers are currently trying to hold them off as long as we can. The way I see it there is nothing major to worry about."

'Yes, Dementors are attacking the school but no worries here.'

"However, the Headmaster believes that until we are completely safe again, we need to begin clearing out the students who could be put into immediate danger. And believe it or not," she sighed, "you are some of these few."

Harry scoffed which caused McGonagall to shoot him one of her death glares. "Is something wrong Mr. Potter?"

"No ma'am. Well not really," he lied. "But I don't see why we can't stay. I can't speak for Cassie but Hermione, Ron and I can do the Patronus charm. There are a bunch of other students here who could do it as well, former members of the D.A. If you could just let me…"

"While I appreciate your initiative I'm going to have to decline. You are not of age yet and are not suited to fight in this type of situation."

"What's the point of teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts if we don't learn to use it in real life?" Harry argued. McGonagall gave him a questioning look before sighing heavily once again. "Potter, I am blown away by your willingness to help the cause, really I am. But it's a matter of safety

Harry nodded energetically, glad for a chance to prove himself worthy. As soon as she stepped out of the room Hermione advanced on him.

"How the hell could you do that?!" She yelled, her eyes were gleaming with anger.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, quite shaken by her tone of voice.

"You just volunteered us to go out and try to stop a bunch of Dementors! I know you may be used to that kind of thing Harry but I for one, am not."

Harry stared at her in awe before speaking again. "So you wanna just run away?" His tone started to rise. "You want to go someplace nice and safe while others are out there risking their necks doing something your capable of doing yourself? Now I don't know about _you _Hermione but I don't like the idea of people going out risking their lives just to keep me safe, not knowing whether or not their efforts were worth it."

Now it was Hermione who was giving him an odd look. "That's all well and good Harry but I still don't think I'm up for this." Harry couldn't believe his ears. Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of their age was giving up an opportunity to show her magical talent. He didn't know what else to say to her so he turned to Ron instead.

"What about you then? If Dumbledore agrees are you coming with me?"

"I…er…I'll think about it," he replied shyly, turning his back to Harry.

"What?"

"Jesus, I don't know! This is all so soon. I don't think I can do this, maybe you can Harry but I'm not sure if…"

"But I don't understand. Why won't you…"

"What's so bloody hard to understand," Cassie said coldly. She had been silent since she entered the room and was currently staring out the window in the corner of the room. "They're scared. Everyone's scared. Believe it or not Harry, not everyone is as brave as you are." Harry ignored this comment and turned his attention back to Hermione and Ron.

"So you're just going to let me go out there by myself then?"

"No!" Hermione cried, getting up from her chair. "You're not going out there by yourself. You can't. I won't let you!" She slowly backed away from him and towards the corner to join Ron and Cassie. "Stay with us Harry," she pleaded. "Please."

Harry eyed Hermione carefully. Her eyes were full of concern and fear, begging him not to throw himself out into what he was planning to do. Ron was looking at him hopefully thinking the same thing. He glanced back and forth from Hermione and Harry, tempting him to agree with her. Cassie was staring at him with a look of warning.

"No." He said flatly.

"Harry why would you want to put yourself through this?"

"I think what she means is," Cassie interrupted. "Do you really think you can make a difference or are you going into super hero mode?"

Harry's mouth dropped open at this comment. He had been accused of having a stupid hero instinct too many times for his liking.

"What did you say?" He asked slowly and through clenched teeth.

Harry never heard a response because at that moment, Professor McGonagall came back inside, mumbling under her breath.

"The old man has lost his mind…I can't believe he's going through with this…give them experience my foot…I'll show him experience…," she whispered to herself as she busied tidying things in the office that were already neat as a pin.

"Uhh Professor," Harry said impatiently, snapping the Transfiguration teacher out of her trance. "Don't mean to interrupt but what exactly did Professor Dumbledore say?"

"Huh?" She replied, as if she had just noticed the four students standing there. "Oh right," McGonagall smiled as the realization hit her. "Headmaster Dumbledore, he said uh…… he said if you're really willing to go then its good practice. Practice for what, I don't know. All the years that we've put into this school trying to keep the student's safe and he goes and pulls something so ridiculous. All his talk about trying to keep the students out of harm…and making sure they're always protected at Hogwarts…I think he's got a screw loose that man…"

"Professor we're not going," Hermione interrupted. "As flattering as it is that Professor Dumbledore finds us capable assisting in this whole mess I don't think we can handle all the stress so if you don't mind just setting up a portkey…

"Hermione what are you saying!?" Harry jumped in. "This is fighting for wizard kind is what we're talking about! You guys can run and hide but you can't speak for me and I am going out there and nothing you say can stop me."

Hermione's mouth was hanging open and her face was full of shock. She took another step farther away from him and shook her head slowly. "Harry," she said in a hushed tone, barely loud enough for him to hear, "I really think you're making a bad decision here. But if you're so determined to do this then fine Harry," she was getting angry again. "But think about this," Hermione warned him. "You're parents didn't die for you to go and get yourself killed in a stupid fight against Dementors."

"Mr. Potter, may I suggest heading down to the grounds now," Professor McGonagall broke in, having lost her state of insanity, "I believe there are some plans for you. As for you three," she said, turning her attention to Ron, Hermione, and Cassie. "If you are not willing to go along with Mr. Potter I'll set up a portkey immediately."

The groupe in the corner nodded to the Gryffindor Head and looked at Harry expectantly. Harry read there faces and knew that they were begging him to stay behind as well. He shook his head defiantly and crossed his arms, closing the conversation once and for all.

Professor McGonagall pulled a goblet out of one of the pockets of her robes and muttered a spell as she tapped it with her wand. It gave off an eerie orange glow for a few seconds before returning to normal. She handed the object to Hermione and instructed them. "Once you arrive follow the crowds towards the rock shaped like a cookie with a bite in it, the Order members will take care of you from there."

The three of them nodded simultaneously and placed a finger on the goblet. "Don't forget what I said Harry," Hermione said desperately, a split second before the portkey activated and they disappeared out of the office in a swirl of colors. Professor McGonagall turned to the opposite side of the room and began walking towards the door. "Follow me Potter," she said flatly, "You're needed downstairs." With that, she briskly walked out of Dumbledore's office, Harry trailing behind.


	23. authors note: revamp on last chapterimpo...

alrite, ive decided to change some of my old chapters starting w/ chapter 22 (my yearning to change that chapter has kept me awake at night...) im sorry for not updating this in so long but ive really got ideas in mi head. Its just the problem of sitting down to type it all. I promise though even if it takes three years, the story will be finished. So, if anybody out there is reading this fic, please go back and read chapter 22 again, the last few paragraphs will be different, and in my mind better. Thank you,

g0blet0ffire


	24. Dementor Bait

Chapter 23-Dementor Bait

Harry followed Professor McGonagall down the long changing staircases of Hogwarts castle. She was moving very swiftly for a woman of her age and Harry had to break into a slight jog in order to keep up with her. When they arrived at the large oak doors that led to the grounds he saw all of his teachers huddled together around the large pointed hat that belonged to Professor Dumbledore.

McGonagall ran towards the group of her fellow staff members and Harry followed the booming voice of the headmaster giving orders to his staff.

"And finally," Harry heard him say as he got close enough to the circle, "I want another group to head out to the Astronomy Tower before they come too close. Now everyone move out," and with a quick clap of Dumbledore's hands, the staff before him scattered away into different directions, leaving Harry, McGonagall and Dumbledore standing alone.

There was a long period of silence in which Harry just took to staring at Dumbledore who was watching the rest of the teachers spread out along the grounds. McGonagall kept looking over her shoulders nervously, for what, Harry didn't know. Harry kept his gaze fixed on his headmaster who was currently staring out towards the horizon as the last few professors disappeared into the blackened sky. Dumbledore finally met Harry's eyes and sighed heavily.

"Harry," he said quietly, turning towards the young wizard. "To think that I have known you all of your life," he started. "And here you stand before me. Willing to risk your life for something you believe in, unsure of the result yet having the burning passion to continue anyway. I just never thought it would be so soon," he said shaking this head. "I was greatly hoping that it would never come down to this, but Harry, I need you to do me a favor."

"Anything Professor," Harry said, allowing Dumbledore's words to sink in. He didn't understand why it was so hard for him to believe. Harry thought that he had made it clear this was what he had always wanted, and Dumbledore couldn't be oblivious to something so obvious. And what exactly did he mean by he wished it wouldn't come down to this?

'He's ashamed of having an adolescent wizard do his job for him,' an angry voice said in the back of his thoughts, but Harry shook it off before he could even process what it said.

"You always have been very enthusiastic," Dumbledore said, smiling down at Harry. Harry gave a small smile and took a deep breath. "So what is it you need me to do."

"Let us just get one thing clear Harry. By law, you are too young to participate in this battle in any way, and if the Ministry finds out about this they'll have my head, as well as yours. But I think I have found a way around the rules. The laws of the Ministry clearly state that you are not permitted to practice in any type of magical duel regarding wars, battles, etc. However," he paused, "they state nothing about using underage wizards as a diversion."

"A d-d-diversion?" Harry stammered. 'Fantastic, I'm being used as Dementor bait.'

"Yes Harry, a diversion. This may be a very dangerous task Harry, and if you'd like to turn back now I…"

"No!" Harry yelled, his voice echoing in the silent night. "I WANT to do this," he said firmly.

Dumbledore studied him carefully and then nodded. "Very well Harry. Now, first things first, Minerva," he addressed Professor McGonagall. "Please bring Harry's broom down here. It's key to the success of this tactic."

McGonagall nodded and sauntered towards the doors of the castle. "You want me to fly Professor?" Harry asked, a bit confused by the headmaster's request.

"Yes Harry. I just need you to fly around the castle until the Dementors spot you. But keep in mind there are two clusters so you must always be on your guard. Once they have seen you, fly as quickly as your Firebolt can take you to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. There'll be a regiment of wizards waiting there to fight against the Dementors. Of course, I've taken some safety precautions. There are groups of teachers spread out along the grounds. If you should run into trouble send up red sparks from your wand."

Harry nodded energetically to Dumbledore's request and looked up at the sky, wondering how much closer the Dementors had gotten to the school in the last half hour. "It doesn't seem too hard," Harry said to himself.

"Don't let your guard down Harry," the tall wizard warned him. "Always be alert. But don't get yourself too hyped up, otherwise you'll never be able to distinguish the Dementors from the night sky. Don't be afraid to protect yourself if need be."

Harry gave Dumbledore an odd look. To hear him speak that way about his task scared Harry. Dumbledore recognized his look of shock and tried to calm him down.

"Try thinking of it this way. Its like a Quidditch match. You're the Snitch, and the Dementors are all the Seekers trying to get a hold of you. With your flying skills, I think that you'll be ok. Just remember what I told you about the help signal."

"I will professor, thank you."

"Now, if I'm correct that's Minerva with your broom now," Dumbledore said, tilting his head up past Harry to look towards the doors McGonagall had passed through a few minutes ago. She was jogging towards them, clutching Harry's Firebolt in her wrinkled hands.

"Here you go Potter," McGonagall panted, handing Harry his broomstick. "Take it and go quickly."

Harry nodded and mounted his broom. He gave a hard kick-off and felt himself hurtling upwards into the air. It had been weeks since he'd been able to ride his broom and despite the soul-less monsters flying towards the castle that very moment, Harry felt giddy. He smiled to himself and looked down at Dumbledore giving him a small wave, which Harry returned and began to accelerate.

After getting over the excitement of flying again, Harry became quite anxious. He agreed with Dumbledore that he'd be safe due to his flying skills but there were still some risks. Harry had taken on Dementors before but never had he needed to distract two full fleets of them. And who knew exactly how many there could be?

These thoughts raced through Harry's head as he felt a chilling wind sweep through him, he looked towards the horizon and saw the patch of black was moving closer towards Hogwarts at a surprisingly fast rate. Harry's breath caught in his chest as he watched the group of Dementors slowly start to take shape.

For a while Harry just sat midair above the school watching the group come closer and closer. He wasn't sure what to do at this point. He was pretty sure that this batch would be able to see him but there was still the second cluster to worry about.

'I have to find a place where they could both find me,' Harry thought to himself. He shifted his weight on his Firebolt and started zooming upwards into the sky. The school seemed to shrink beneath him and stopped flying when he was a solid mile above the castle.

Harry craned his neck down, trying to pinpoint the exact middle of the school. If he could find it, then it would be easy enough for both groups to follow him to the edge of the forest. It was hard to tell what _exactly_ was the middle of the school, due to all the different hallways and towers, but after further inspection he found that above the Great Hall should be the exact spot.

Harry tilted the handle of his broom downwards again and tried to focus on the spot as he was hurtling towards the roof. He pulled out of his dive at the last second at examined his surroundings. To his right he could see a very large patch of black moving towards him and to his left he saw a slightly smaller patch, moving at a slower speed. From what he could tell, it looked like one set would arrive before the other.

'I've got to get both of them out of the way,' Harry told himself rationally. He set off again but this time he was heading in the direction of the cluster that was farther away, constantly checking back to make sure that the other set hadn't disappeared from sight. Within a few minutes he found himself equally distant from both swarms. Now all he had to do was wait.

But something happened that he didn't expect, the groups started heading in two different directions. One headed towards the lake at the back of the school and one seemed to be heading towards the front doors. If the two groups changed their course Harry didn't know how he'd be able to lure them towards the forest.

He racked through his brain for any kind of spell or charm that would keep them on the path he had expected but nothing seemed to fit. In anxiousness, he started twiddling his wand in his hands, hoping that maybe seeing it in front of him would give him an idea, but nothing came to him.

Harry's panic grew with every passing second. He thought about luring one group at a time but by the time he had distracted one and came back for the other, they could've breeched the school by then. Angered at his lack of choices he started slamming his wand against the handle of his broom.

"Do SOMETHING you stupid thing!" Harry yelled, and as if on command, his wand vibrated violently in his hand and sent an enormous bolt of lighting into the sky, illuminating all of Hogwarts for a short amount of time. In this time he glanced at one of the pack of Dementors and saw that their hooded heads had turned in his direction, wondering where the sudden disturbance had originated.

Even as the lighting stopped Harry could make out the shape of the Dementor fleet to his right hurtling towards him at an alarming speed. He turned to the left and saw the other group had mimicked this behavior. Harry smiled to himself but quickly shook it off as he had to make sure that their curiosity didn't falter.

He did everything wizardly possible to keep them occupied. He dove, flipped, turned, and spun every which way to keep their attention. And slowly enough he began to feel the chill creep up his fingertips and puffs of smoke exited his mouth with each breath.

Looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw the forms were but a few yards away from him and upon noticing this he jetted off towards the Forbidden Forest, the Dementors trailing behind. He could hear the hum of their raspy breaths behind him, letting him know that they were coming for him, but Harry didn't let that intimidate him. He flew full speed toward his destination, knowing that soon this nightmare would be over.

Harry craned his neck to look behind him, just for reassurance that they were still taking the bait only to find that they had stopped moving. They were just looming at the horizon and seemed to be waiting for something. Harry pulled out his wand and shot up another bolt of lightning to catch their attention again but what he found surprised him.

With the illumination from the lightning bolt he saw black figure lurking behind him. Harry spun around and found himself face-to-face with a Dementor. It swooped around him menacingly and began taking in deep breaths, trying to suck the joy out of Harry and was succeeding.

Harry felt himself growing weaker and more miserable by the second but in the back of his mind he kept telling himself to hold on. He told himself that by getting over this, he would've single-handedly save Hogwarts from great peril. Cassie wouldn't be able to accuse of him of going into a goofy super-hero mode, Malfoy would forever be in Harry's debt, Hermione would lay off his back, and more importantly everyone would be proud of him.

Harry found just enough strength to regain control of his broom and fly out of the Dementor's reach. He focused his thoughts on how things would be after this whole mess and managed to utter "Expecto Patronum," as he pointed his wand at the Dementor. It wasn't brilliantly strong but it was just enough to create a shield of light to send the Dementor flying backwards.

Obviously this Dementor wasn't very strong and began to flee back to the rest of its kind which had now formed one enormous cloud. As it floated along back to the others, Harry watched the cluster come hurtling towards him at breakneck speeds.

Harry put his top of the line broom to good use and zoomed off as fast as his broom would take him. He didn't know how the Dementors had become so speedy but he wasn't in a hurry to find out either. Even as he thought he was getting far enough away from them he could still feel the bone-chilling sensation throughout his whole body.

He looked over his shoulder and his breath caught in his chest as the stampede of Dementors lingered only a few feet away. Harry closed his eyes and put all of his energy into trying to make his broom go faster. The only problem was that he was going so fast as it was that it was becoming increasingly harder to hold on to the handle.

He looked below him desperately to see exactly where he was above the school and he gave a gasp of relief when he saw the large trees outlining the Forbidden Forest not far off. Harry pointed his broom downwards and a gust of wind went through him as he flew crashing towards the ground. He was nearly in the clear until he felt cold steady breaths behind his neck.

He wouldn't let the Dementors take him now, not when he was so close to succeeding. He put all of his weight towards the front of his broom and felt himself fall faster. He could see the grass below him and he could just picture the faces of his professors, anticipating his arrival.

For a few seconds, Harry felt that he was on top of the world. He had succeeded in his task, but just as the though crossed his mind he felt like a vacuum cleaner was sucking him backwards, back towards the sky. He heard people screaming, people he could not identify, but one voice stood out against all of the others:

"Come on, you can do better than that!"

He heard the triumphant scream of a woman and before he hit the ground with a thud, everything went black.


	25. Preparations

Chapter 25- Preparations

The days after the Dementor invasion seemed to pass like months for Harry. Everywhere that he went people were constantly throwing questions at him and chatting him up as if they were best friends. People like Colin and his group of friends followed him to every class and to all the meals in the Great Hall. Whenever Harry thought that he finally had a moment of peace to himself somebody would come up and interrogate him. Others however didn't say a word. They'd see him walking in the hallway, clear out of his way, and stare at him until he was out of sight.

Headlines in the Daily Prophet and most wizarding magazines had revolved around the whole fiasco, titles like "The-Boy-Who-Saved-Hogwarts" and "Another Fudge Folly: Dementors on the Loose" were the most common. Every morning when he entered the Great Hall it seemed like every student received twelve different periodicals just to see different interpretations of the story (as Harry had only told his "full" story to Ron and Hermione).

Thankfully, his two best friends were always at his side to clear off the solicitors when it got too rowdy. Harry still had a very numb feeling in his brain and people crowding around him just made it worse, and the amount of fans seemed to increase by the day. Once Saturday rolled around Harry had nearly half the school following him to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Harry took his seat between Ron and Hermione as the Gryffindors who were following him in the hallway took up every other seat around him. Even if Harry wasn't answering any of their ridiculous questions, they just seemed to be honored to be in the presence of the "Great Harry Potter." As Harry poked at his omelet he heard Dumbledore call for silence by giving a loud whistle that rang through the Great Hall. Harry's head snapped up at the sharp sound and saw the Headmaster standing at the staff table, waiting for his students to become silent.

"I'd first like to thank all of you again for your patience and cooperation you showed a few nights ago," he started. "After these events however, I feel that it is necessary to make sure that each and every one of you receive extra education in Defense Against the Dark Arts. And so, I'd like to reinstate a club that most of you should be familiar with."

"I still can't believe this," Harry said happily as he stroked Hedwig's feathers. He, Ron, and Hermione finally found some time to themselves. All of Harry's followers from the past two days had gone off with their own friends, most likely to talk about the re-established club. After being cooped up for so long the trio thought it would be nice to spend some time outdoors. They chose a spot underneath a beech tree on the edge of the Great Lake to finally have a conversation in peace.

"Its not really that hard to believe," Hermione said, flipping through her Arithmancy book. "I mean, Dumbledore did take the fall for you when the D.A. was discovered. And it really did help a lot of people learn what we were supposed to be learning last year in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Plus…"

"Ok Hermione we get it," Ron said monotonously as he threw another rock into the lake with a small splash. Hermione gave Ron a fierce look before shaking her head and returning to her schoolwork. "So what exactly does Dumbledore have in mind for this thing anyway?" Ron asked, ignoring Hermione's look. "He can't expect you to teach the whole school Defense Against the Dark Arts, can he?"

"I'm supposed to go to his office after dinner tomorrow tonight to talk about everything."

"So he's definitely asked you to help run it then?" Hermione questioned, taking a break to look up from her book.

"I guess so," Harry said, shrugging a bit. Dumbledore hadn't directly said that Harry would be some how help organize the D.A. again but he figured that if Dumbledore didn't want him to then he wouldn't have asked Harry to speak with him.

"What do you think ever happened to that Umbridge woman?" Hermione said, her voice dripping with venom as she mentioned her name.

"She's probably got a bed at St. Mungo's right next to Lockhart," Ron said, throwing another rock, causing a bigger splash than the first.

"Ron you're going to wake the squid if you keep doing that," Hermione warned him.

"I will not," he replied childishly as he threw yet another stone into the lake. As soon as it entered the water however he saw large purple eyes appear above the surface that began to move towards the group at an alarming speed. As it came closer and closer to them a horn began to poke out of the water as well in front of the eyes.

"Uh-oh," Harry said, as he started to back up behind the tree, fearing whatever was coming at them. Ron had a frightened look on his face while Hermione however, had her head tilted to the side and looked deep in thought, trying to identify the creature coming for them.

The 'thing' finally emerged out of the water, but Harry couldn't exactly see what it was as he crouched behind the tree. All he saw was a great mass of a pinkish-red color slowly approaching Ron.

"Thank goodness," Hermione said, breathing a sigh of relief, Ron on the other hand was still whimpering.

Harry turned to look at the other side of the tree to find Greg (who had now grown to the size of a baby elephant) staring down Ron with angry violet eyes, his teeth bared.

Ron chuckled nervously and said, "H-h-h-hi Greg, b-b-buddy. S-s-sorry about the rocks, it w-w-was an accident r-really. I didn't mean t-t-o…"

But Ron never got a chance to finish as Greg took a deep breath and released a flurry of flames out of his mouth, which miraculously hit Ron but nothing else.

"Nice to see you again too," Ron coughed as Greg turned and headed back into the lake.

Ron turned his charred face towards Hermione in a fixed glare as he watched her laugh madly behind her book.

After dinner that evening, Harry diverted away from his normal route to the common rooms and headed towards Dumbledore's office. He stated the password (Chocolate Frogs) to the stone goblin that moved out of his way so he could enter the winding staircase.

Upon entering the office, Dumbledore was already waiting for him behind his desk. He motioned for Harry took take a seat in front of him and Harry did so.

"Harry," he started, taking a lemon drop from the small bowl on his desk. "I'd like to thank you personally for the assistance you gave us a few nights ago. You showed extreme bravery and kept a cool head under pressure. Not many wizards would be able to do so when faced with Dementors."

"It was my pleasure Professor," Harry replied, smiling a bit. Dumbledore returned his smile and continued speaking.

"Now, I was wondering if you were interested in helping out with the D.A. I figured I'd ask you first, being the founder and all."

Harry nodded energetically and waited for Dumbledore to continue.

"Yes, I thought you'd be excited to help out," he said, beaming down at his student. "Now, I think I've set up a way in which we can make the club available for all students without putting too much pressure on the students. There will be different divisions for all of the different years. I've compiled a list of younger students that I see fit to teach their respective years, leaving you in charge of teaching the sixth years. This job is a large responsibility and if you need any help, don't be afraid to ask for it."

Harry nodded. He figured that if the D.A. hadn't been too much of a problem last year when they had to keep it a secret, it would be incredibly easier to run it when it was allowed.

"It would be preferred if at least one meeting would be held per week. You may pick any day that's convenient for you and you may organize the lessons in any way you like. Any questions?"

Harry shook his head. It seemed as though Dumbledore had thought out everything for a very long time. Then it occurred to Harry that this must've been what Dumbledore had planned to tell him when he had turned into a toddler so many weeks earlier.

"Just one more thing Harry," Dumbledore said, shuffling through some of his papers. "I feel that you should start practicing your Occlumency again."

Harry groaned at his proposition, sounding very much like a whiny child. "Not lessons with Snape again…"

"Professor Snape Harry," Dumbledore corrected him. "And no, I feel that its better for the both of you if you are not required to take Occlumency lessons from Professor Snape. Although he is highly qualified for the job if you ever change your mind."

Harry shook his head vigorously, refusing any unnecessary contact with Snape.

Dumbledore gave a small chuckle to Harry's rejection and continued. "All I ask of you is that you practice clearing your mind before going to sleep. If you promise to do this every night, your Occlumency will naturally increase without having to take weekly lessons. And to ensure that your performance is raising, I'm sure that Cassandra wouldn't mind trying to read your thoughts."

Harry nodded in a slight daze. He was already thinking of all the things that he would be required to research in order to teach his classmates properly. He was sure that Hermione would gladly volunteer to help him out, and he'd need all the help he could get.

"Well, now that this is all sorted out I suggest that you make up some kind of schedule and make sure that all of the notice boards in all four common rooms get a copy. And this," he said, slipping a hand into the pocket of his robes, "is one of the keys to the Restricted Section of the library." He put the key down in front of Harry, who took it in his hands and dumped it into the pocket of his jeans. "You may return to your common room if you don't have any questions."

Harry nodded, gave Dumbledore a quick goodbye and headed towards the Gryffindor common room, ready to recruit Hermione as his research partner. He approached the portrait of the Fat Lady, spoke the password (Honeydukes) and clambered through the portrait hole.

Upon entering the center of the common room, Harry was pleased to see that younger students no longer attacked him. They seemed to be heavily engrossed in their own conversations to even notice that he had entered the room, and Harry preferred it that way. In the corner he saw Hermione and Cassie sitting at a table together. Hermione was scribbling away at a rather long piece of parchment and Cassie was lazily thumbing through a book.

"I'm back," Harry announced as he stood over them.

"Hi Harry," they chanted.

"So," Hermione said excitedly, "What did Dumbledore say?"

"Well basically, he wants me to organize the seventh year division of the D.A. I have to make up a schedule with meeting times and he gave me a key to the restricted section so I can do research."

Hermione's eyes lit up at his last sentence. "Can I help with that?" She practically begged him.

"I guess so," Harry said sarcastically. "He also wants me to start practicing Divination again. So Cassie…"

"Sure," she answered casually, already knowing what he was going to ask.

"Great. Um…where's Ron?" Harry asked, just noticing his absence.

"Ron went up to bed," Hermione explained.

"He said he wasn't feeling too well," Cassie finished.

"Oh," Harry replied sadly, wondering what could be wrong with Ron. "I think I'm gonna turn in for today. 'Night."

Hermione and Cassie bid Harry goodnight as he headed up the stairs for the boys' dorms. As he opened the door he saw that all the curtains around Ron's bed were drawn, seeming to separate him from the outside world.

"Ron?" Harry asked quietly, unsure if he was asleep yet. He received a simple groan as a reply.

"Are you okay?"

"Headache," Ron answered bluntly.

"Just a headache?" Harry persisted, wondering how a headache could reduce Ron to such a state. Once again Ron groaned but this time Harry just let him be, deciding that bothering an already cranky Ron would be bad. He changed for bed and settled himself in his four-poster (deciding that he could practice his Occlumency tomorrow night) and slowly drifted asleep.


	26. Ron's Strange Behavior

a/n: Lillian Marie Potter thanks sooo much for the review! anyway, i thought this chapter would take longer to write but i used most of my vacation time and managed to pull it off ) so read and review!

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Chapter 26- Ron's Strange Behavior

Harry was disturbed in the middle of the night by the sound of heavy footsteps walking across the room. He sat up in his four-poster and fumbled around, trying to find his glasses while adjusting his eyes to the darkness. As his hands found their way to the bedside table he slipped his glasses on just in time to see a Ron plop down onto his bed with a groan.

"Ron?" Harry asked with a yawn, knowing that most of his consciousness hadn't wakened.

Ron never answered and Harry just shrugged it off and forced himself back to sleep, knowing fully well that Hermione would already be on his case about his work for the D.A. when he woke up the next morning.

"Harry!" A loud voice jolted Harry out of his slumber and the shock of the sound caused him to fall out of his four-poster. He scrambled out of the tangle of sheets and looked up at a very disgruntled looking Hermione. He quickly scanned the room, wondering why any of the boys in their year had allowed her in (although it wasn't quite uncommon), but observed that they must have cleared out earlier that morning.

"Have you any idea what time it is? You've slept nearly half the day away and there's work to be done! I would have gone ahead to start the research but seeing as all the good books are in the Restricted section and you're the only one with a bloody key then I…"

"Hermione do you ever stop talking?" Ron's voice groaned from his bed. Harry looked over at him at saw large bags under his bloodshot eyes and it seemed as though he had been through some dreadful war. His hair was sticking up in many directions and it seemed as though he was fighting with himself just to sit up and speak.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked bluntly, unsure of how else to voice his concern.

"I feel like I've been hit by a bus," Ron said darkly, holding his head in his hands.

"What's going on with you Ron?" Hermione asked quietly, going into her maternal mode. But Ron didn't answer right away. He stared at the floor for a while, thinking of how to put his condition into words.

"It feels like a chunk of my brain is missing," he said slowly, his gaze still fixed on the ground. "And I don't know why but I'm incredibly tired, I don't think I even slept last night."

Harry and Hermione just looked at each other and waited for Ron to continue.

"And I think I was sleep walking last night, I remember waking up in the common room."

"Yeah, I heard you come in," Harry confirmed.

"What happened to your hands?" Hermione asked inquisitively.

Harry's eyes flickered to Ron's hands as she said this, not noticing if anything was wrong with them until that moment. His knuckles looked very raw, they were swollen and stained brown, as though he had been in some sort of blood fight.

"I dunno," Ron shrugged as he flexed his fingers, examining them for himself. There was a short moment of silence while Harry and Hermione just watched as Ron slowly drifted deeply into some sort of trance. His eyes were dazed, as though he was staring right through the dorm's walls. It was almost like Harry and Hermione weren't even there.

"I'm going back to bed." Ron said rather robotically, after giving it much contemplation. He rolled over on his side and pulled all the curtains around him. Hermione shot Harry a quizzical look, which Harry could only return, still not fully understanding what Ron was feeling.

Hermione shrugged and turned her attention back to Harry. "Just let him rest I guess. But you on the other hand have got to get moving!"

After Hermione dragged Harry out of bed, shoved toast down his throat and lugged him down the many corridors of the castle towards the library. Madame Pince glowered at the pair as they shuffled to the back of the library to the Restricted Section. Harry pulled the key that Dumbledore had given him the day before out of his robe pocket (apparently not quick enough as Hermione was tapping her foot impatiently). He pushed the door open with a creak and stepped into the dusty area.

The floorboards squeaked under his feet as he stepped further into the room and Hermione wandered around in awe.

"Wow," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Imagine all the stuff that's in here…"

Harry rolled his eyes at Hermione's eager attitude and took a look at the whole area. It was quite dusty and dark from lack of use but it did seem as though there would be a lot of valuable information within the tall bookshelves crowding around him.

"Its hard to know where to get started," Harry said after much thought.

"Let's just find a place to work first," Hermione said, Harry couldn't tell if it was a suggestion or a command. He wandered down the halls of books, in search of a table or some kind of flat surface to take notes and read on but he searched in vain.

He turned around and followed another aisle of books all the way to the end and found an old door. He slowly turned the knob and the opened door revealed a tiny office-like room. It had a long table in the middle with chairs all around it. There were two armchairs in the corner around a small coffee table in front of a fireplace. The whole room was covered in a layer of dust but it still had a cozy feel to it.

"Hermione," Harry called. "I think I found a spot!"

"Great," Hermione's voice called distantly. She soon came lugging into the room with some very heavy-looking books in her arms. She brushed passed Harry and dropped the volumes on the table with a loud slam. "Now we can get started."

'This is going to be a long day…' Harry thought.

Harry and Hermione spent the whole day in the Restricted section going through ancient volumes of Defense Against the Dark Arts and taking notes on everything useful. There were tons of different articles on artifacts, incantations and even a few potions that Harry found interesting.

"Have you looked through this one yet?" Hermione asked, dropping a massive old book on their worktable.

"Not yet," Harry said, not looking up from the parchment he was scribbling on. "All the ones I've gone through are over there." He pointed to a pile of ancient titles at the other end of the long table. "How much longer until we get out of here?" Harry asked somewhat impatiently, closing the book he was leaning over.

"We've got to get as much done as possible Harry," Hermione said, leafing through the book she had just found. "We can't leave anything until the last minute. And this is only the first part of it. We still need to make a schedule and come up with lesson plans and…"

"Hermione," Harry interrupted. "We've done enough research to last a week in just one day, making a schedule for at least the next few weeks shouldn't take much time and we've got tons of material to make lessons with."

Harry had spoken very truthfully. They had a pile of parchment between the two of them a foot high with notes they had taken and Harry thought that if he had to write anything more that his hand would fall off.

Hermione sighed, knowing Harry was right (but secretly not wanting him to be). "I suppose we can call it a day. But I'm taking some of these back to the common room."

"Whatever," Harry mumbled under his breath as he began to start collecting his things. After a few minutes they were exiting the Restricted section, locking the door behind them. As they walked towards the exit of the library Harry saw that it had gotten very late. Through the windows he could see the orange and purple blend of the sky as the sun set. He guessed that it was nearly time for dinner.

Upon entering the common room they most of the other Gryffindors there getting ready to head down to the Great Hall. When Hermione closed the door behind her (rather loudly since she was unable to balance properly with all the books in her arms) Harry saw Cassie's head look back at them from behind the couch in front of the fire. She gave them a half hearted smile and turned back around to stare at the fireplace.

"I see you two have made progress," she said as Harry collapsed onto one of the armchairs, dropping his pile of parchment next to him.

"Yup," Harry said tiredly, wanting nothing more than to stuff his face and then head straight to bed. After spending a whole day in the library, in a small room, with tons of books containing too much information, and Hermione, his head was bound to burst any second. "How's Ron?" He asked absentmindedly, although the question had been buzzing in the back of his head all day.

"Terribly cranky," she replied, seeming a bit offended. "I went up there today to check on him and he called me some kind of a thief. I have no idea what he was talking about but he kept going on about how everyone around him was unfaithful and I should return what I stole."

Harry looked at her quizzically and then turned to Hermione, automatically hoping that she would have an answer. She was already looking through some of the articles she had brought back but was paying attention to the conversation nonetheless. She shrugged when Harry's gave fell upon her, already knowing he'd assume she'd have answers. "Maybe he's got some kind of a head cold and now he's just delusional."

Harry wasn't sure what exactly was going on with Ron today but he thought that maybe dinner would snap him out of it. He lugged himself out of his seat and started to head up the stairs. "Careful," Cassie warned him from below as he headed towards the dorms.

As Harry approached the door as Seamus emerged rather quickly, slamming it behind him in a fit. Upon seeing Harry he hurried over to him. "What's wrong with your mate Harry?"

"What?" Harry asked, slightly confused, although he had a pretty good idea what it was about.

"Ron," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You'd think he's got a shovel up his arse or something."

"How so?"

"He's acting like a bloody lunatic! He's ransacking through all of our trunks, called Neville a stuttering twit and he keeps tell me I'm some kind of half-breed! Not to mention he's throwing books about and what not. I was lucky to get out alive," he added dramatically. "I think he's looking for something and unless you've got it Harry, I wouldn't go in there."

"Is he talking to anybody?" Harry asked hopefully, wishing that maybe Ron was dipping in and out from sane to insane and not just acting insanely all day.

"No, but he's mumbling to himself about incompetent underlings or something like that."

"Oh dear," Harry said under his breath.

"Anyway, I'm getting out of here before he decides to come after me. Good luck Harry." Seamus gave him a quick reassuring pat on the back and disappeared down the stairs. Harry took a deep breath then pushed open the door to a disastrous site.

All of the boys' beds were complete wrecks. Most of them were missing pillows and had their sheets tossed onto the floor. Trunks were thrown in multiple directions with personal belongings spilling out of them, and in a huddled mass in the corner, Harry saw Ron. He was facing the wall, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth and whimpering to himself. Harry got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he navigated through the mess and approached his friend.

"Ron?" He asked quietly, somewhat frightened from hearing of his wild behavior. Ron didn't answer, but the sound of his whimpering increased.

"Everything okay?" He questioned, a bit more assertively, not wanting to baby him.

Ron turned at looked to look at Harry; his blue eyes seemed enlarged as they bulged out of his freckled face. He had that dazed look again and was just staring at Harry in awe.

"Harry," Ron distantly, his gaze still fixed on the wizard towering above him. "What's wrong with me?"

"I don't know Ron," Harry shrugged. "Maybe we should go down to the hospital wing and…"

"No," Ron said darkly, taking Harry by surprise.

"Erm…okay…well um…what have you been doing today?" He asked, trying to gain some information.

"I slept," Ron answered casually.

"Are you sure?"

"No…no I'm not." He shook his head and looked at the floor, suddenly finding it very interesting.

"It seems like someone's always reading my mind…invading my thoughts…And then I went down to the Great Hall for lunch today and everyone's looking at me very strangely…This whole day just seemed to be a blur."

Harry had never seen Ron so miserable. For as long as Harry had known him, Ron had always been relatively normal and got on well with everyone (except for the Slytherins but they were a different story) and now to be shunned by his peers, not even knowing their reason, Harry felt nothing but pity for him. He knew something was going on with Ron but Harry couldn't put his finger on it.

"Ron, there's some stuff you should know," Harry started.

"Apparently you've been acting very," he searched for the right word, "peculiar today."

"How?"

"You've just been causing a ruckus to put it simply." Harry sat down on the closest bed, suddenly feeling more comfortable talking to Ron.

"Oh," Ron answered, seeming even more down than before. For a while they just sat in silence, Harry watching Ron, and Ron watching the floor. After some time, Harry found the silence too unbearable.

"Do you want to go down for dinner? Maybe if you eat something you'll feel better."

"No thanks, I'm not hungry."

'Ron is very sick,' Harry thought. "If you're sure then." He got up and navigated through the mess towards the door. Harry nearly pulled the door shut behind him when he heard Ron's quiet voice from the other side.

"Can you ask Cassie if she's been reading my mind today? I keep having that feeling like I'm being watched."

Harry poked his head in through the gap and nodded before he shut the door with a small click. As he trudged downstairs the common room was nearly empty. Hermione was deeply engrossed in one of her books and Cassie was sitting on the couch with Seamus, and Harry was positive they were discussing Ron's odd behavior.

Harry dropped himself back into the armchair he was sitting in moments ago and sighed heavily.

"Wow, you're alive?" Seamus said incredulously.

"Yeah," Harry said halfheartedly.

"Did he throw anything at you?" He inquired. Harry shook his head.

"Yell at you?"

"No."

"Weird…" He said, before getting up and exiting the common room.

"So what happened?" Cassie asked, anxious and nervous at the same time.

"Firstly, he wants to know if you've been reading his mind all day."

"Well I tried once earlier this morning but it was weird," she replied. "I wasn't getting anything. It's like he wasn't thinking or he was half asleep or something…"

"He says it feels like someone's always watching him or invading his thoughts. And apparently he doesn't remember doing anything to anybody. He thinks he's slept for most of the day." Harry put extreme emphasis on the word 'thinks.'

Hermione had put her book down to listen to Harry (very attentively he might add) and seemed to be very deep in thought.

"You don't think he's losing it do you?" Cassie asked.

"I don't think so," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Maybe he's just paranoid," Harry suggested.

"He's taking paranoia to a new level," Cassie murmured.

"Harry, you said he felt like someone's been reading his thoughts all day, correct?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded in response.

"You don't think anyone here knows Legilimency do you?" Harry wondered.

"I highly doubt it," Hermione replied, scratching her chin.

"This is too weird," Cassie said (as if it wasn't obvious). "I'm heading down for dinner. I'll see you two later." She got up from her seat and exited the common room, leaving Harry and Hermione alone. They didn't say anything for a while, each wrapped up in their own minds.

"Oh!" Hermione said at last, as though just realizing something. "I think I read something about this before." She turned to the pile of books behind her and read the titles to herself quietly. Upon finding the volume she was looking for, she pulled it out from the stack and opened it to the table of contents. Harry's curiosity got the better of him and he got up from his seat and kneeled next to Hermione on the floor and began scanning the page.

Apparently, the book was about psychological disorders. It had countless chapters of diagnosing the problem, prevention of the disease, history of its discovery, everything you could think of. Hermione was unsatisfied with the results from the chapter list and flipped the wrinkled pages all the way to the index in the back. She trailed her finger down the column of the 'a' topics and stopped at 'amnesia, temporary; p. 548' and flipped backwards in the book again, creating a large gust of air.

"Here it is," she said airily, her eyes quickly moving back and forth as she read. "Aggressive behavior paired with paranoia and obliviousness to the afore mentioned behavior are symptoms of mind control and possession."

"No way," Harry said in awe, almost refusing to believe this ludicrous book.

"You don't think…" Hermione started.

"Don't think what?" A voice said from the staircase, startling both Harry and Hermione. Ron was looking at them curiously and his sudden appearance had frightened Harry to the point that it took all of his willpower to keep from screaming.


	27. The Anima Purgo Elixer Part 1

Chapter 27- The Anima Purgo Elixir

"We didn't think that uh…" Harry stammered.

"That you'd come down for dinner," Hermione finished quickly.

"Oh," Ron shrugged. "Well after Harry left I decided I did feel kind of hungry."

"Right," Hermione nodded nervously. "We were hungry too. Weren't we Harry?" Harry nodded stupidly, wondering how fake the situation looked.

"Ok," Ron said suspiciously as he descended the stairs. "So let's go then."

"Right," Hermione nodded again. "Let's go Harry," she ordered as she got up, brushed herself off and Harry followed suit.

They exited the common room and walked the path to the Great Hall in silence. Occasionally Hermione would glance at Harry and look away quickly before Ron could question her actions.

They walked through the large oak doors to the Great Hall and found a spot at the very end of the Gryffindor table. There was a lot of hushed chatter around them and Harry found that many of his classmates had gone out of their way to crowd to the opposite end of the table.

"So what have you two been up to all day?" Ron asked casually, piling food on his plate, apparently rediscovering his appetite.

"Me and Harry went to the library," Hermione said rather quickly.

"Oh," Ron said, shoving a few mouthfuls of food down his throat.

"Where's Cassie?" He asked after a long, uncomfortable moment of silence.

"Down there," Hermione said, nodding her head in Cassie's direction at the other end of the table.

"Oh," He said again, rather dejectedly, and he poked at his food again.

Unsure of what to do, Harry just started to stuff his face, trying (but failing) to ignore Hermione's sideways glances and Ron's glumness.

The rest of dinner passed in an extremely awkward silence, as well as the way back up to the common room. Upon entering Gryffindor Tower however, the mood seemed to lighten up a bit. Ron had asked all kinds of questions on what they had done in the library, and Hermione had gotten over some of her initial shock and supplied him with some answers. After a while, Ron went up to bed, leaving Harry and Hermione in the common room. They were in a corner by themselves, with tons of books spread out in front of them and a calendar they had quickly drawn up.

"But with Quidditch starting up again, we'll probably be having practices then," Harry said to Hermione, who rolled her eyes as she scratched out the date she planned for one of the first D.A. meetings.

"There, now you can feel free to play your ridiculously dangerous game of whacking heavy balls with sticks," Hermione said grumpily.

"That's all I ask," Harry replied. Trying to sort out a schedule turned out to be more than Harry expected. Hermione had managed to get a hold of all the times the Quidditch field was booked so they knew what houses had practice when, in order to accommodate every house. After constructing a timetable for the month it had gotten pretty late and all of the other Gryffindors had gone up to bed, leaving Harry and Hermione alone again.

"So what are we going to do?" Harry whispered, almost afraid that somebody might somehow hear him.

Hermione sighed, "I don't know. We don't know for a fact that's what's wrong with him but…"

"But what if it is?"

"Well then there must be _something_ we can do," she said as she pulled out the textbook from earlier that evening out of the pile next to them. She flipped back to the page that she had marked with a tab. Her eyes quickly scanned the page but the puzzled look on her face remained unchanged.

"All it says its that either the spirit has to leave the vessel and move on to a next one of its own will or it can be forced out."

"Well I doubt that if it is Voldemort," Hermione's left eye twitched slightly, "that he'd just leave out of the goodness of his heart," Harry said grimily. "How can we force him out?"

"Some kind of potion called Anima Purgo Elixir."

"I've never heard of that one," Harry said thoughtfully. "Does it tell you how to make it?"

"Yes," Hermione said distantly. "It seems simple enough but it'll require a lot of work."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, it calls for a lot of very…dark…ingredients. We won't be able to get a hold of them just by raiding Snape's cabinets."

"By 'dark ingredients,' what exactly are you talking about?"

"These are the kinds of components were used in ancient times in potions used to torture people. I'm shocked to find that they can be used for any good whatsoever…as a matter of fact, a majority of them have been outlawed by the Ministry."

"This is hopeless," Harry sighed. "There's no way we're going to be able to get our hands on illegal potion making materials. Are you sure there's no other way?"

"Well," Hermione said thoughtfully as she began to pace in front of the fire. "In our first year here, Voldemort," she whispered his name, "was in control of Quirrell correct?" Harry nodded in response, unaware of where she could be going with this."

"And how did you defeat him?"

"Dumbledore said it was because of love from my parents," Harry replied. "Neither Voldemort nor Quirrell were able to handle that sort of magic. But I doubt that would work this time, Hermione."

Hermione sighed again. "You're right. Ron's known love all of his life. There's no way we could even hope that would work."

"So then the potion is our best bet?"

"I suppose so," Hermione nodded. "I just wish there was an easier way…"

After a few minutes of thoughtful silence she quietly added, "I bet they know how to make this kind of evil stuff in Durmstrang…"

A small click went off in Harry's head. "Hermione," he started, "do you still write to Krum?"

"Well yes, but recently he hasn't answered any of my letters why? Oh wait, now I get it…" Hermione said upon realizing Harry's notions and seeing the look of disappointment on his face.

"But I think we may have another source," Hermione said mischievously, a small grin spreading across her face.


End file.
